Babies born to hepatitis B-positive mothers are at high risk of infection. Practice nurses can play a vital role in immunizing and performing follow-up testing in these infants

Scabies is associated with people living in close proximity, such as in care homes, and the spread of the infection can be difficult to contain. How can you identify infections and how are they treated?

The dried blood spot (DBS) is a national, free-of-charge testing service that has been validated by Public Health England (PHE) to increase the testing of at-risk infants born to hepatitis B-positive mothers at 12 months of age in primary care. Infants born to hepatitis B-positive mothers are at the greatest individual risk of infection at the time of birth, with up to 88% of those born to high-risk (HBsAg and HBeAg+) mothers becoming infected with the virus. Even with a complete course of post-exposure immunisations, approximately 5% of these infants will develop chronic, asymptomatic infection. Therefore, the importance of testing at 12 months is fundamental, to allow for assessment and specialist management at the earliest opportunity. However, the proportion of infants being tested is sub-optimal, with difficulties in obtaining venous blood samples in primary care settings being reported as a major reason for poor uptake of testing.