MMWR News Synopsis
Friday, March 1, 2019
- Use of Electronic Vapor Products Before, During, and After Pregnancy Among Women with a Recent Live Birth — Oklahoma and Texas, 2015
- Progress toward Hepatitis B Control and Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus — Western Pacific Region, 2005–2017
- Notes from the Field
- QuickStats
Use of Electronic Vapor Products Before, During, and After Pregnancy Among Women with a Recent Live Birth — Oklahoma and Texas, 2015
CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286
Although electronic vapor products (EVPs) typically contain nicotine, 1 in 15 women who recently gave birth in Oklahoma and Texas reported using EVPs. During the last three months of pregnancy, 1.4 percent of these women used EVPs. Among women who recently gave birth in Oklahoma and Texas, 7 percent reported using EVPs at some point before, during, or after pregnancy. EVPs typically contain nicotine, which can cause harm to the developing baby during pregnancy. Despite this risk, 2015 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data from Oklahoma and Texas show that EVP use occurs during pregnancy, particularly for recent cigarette smokers. These findings show the importance of messaging that EVPs are not safe to use during pregnancy. Health care providers can help women understand the impact of nicotine on fetal and infant health outcomes, and offer counseling and proven cessation treatment to prevent use of all tobacco products, including EVPs.
Progress toward Hepatitis B Control and Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus — Western Pacific Region, 2005–2017
CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286
Hepatitis B vaccination significantly reduced hepatitis B infections among children in the Western Pacific Region, from 8 percent (considered a high endemicity rate) to less than 1 percent (considered a low endemicity rate). Hepatitis B (HepB), a vaccine preventable disease, is a major cause of liver cancer. After all countries/areas in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) introduced the HepB vaccine into childhood immunization schedules, childhood infections dropped from a high of more than 8 percent in 1990 to less than 1 percent by 2017. These remarkable immunization achievements prevented more than 37 million chronic infections and 7 million HepB-related deaths. Further HepB control includes improving HepB birth-dose coverage through increased health facility births, antenatal training, and outside-the-cold-chain use. In addition to maintaining high vaccine coverage, additional interventions like routine antenatal testing, administration of hepatitis B immunoglobulin to exposed newborns, and antiviral treatment of mothers would be needed to achieve elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HepB by 2030.
- Notes from the Field: Measles Outbreak in an Era of Stricter Immunization Requirements — California, March 2018
- Notes from the Field: Age Distribution of Patients with Laboratory-Detected Respiratory Syncytial Virus — Arizona, 2013–2017
- Notes from the Field: Identifying Risk Behaviors for Invasive Group A Streptococcus Infections Among Persons Who Inject Drugs and Persons Experiencing Homelessness — New Mexico, May 2018
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.
