Timely Administration of the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Vaccine

Dear Colleagues,

To achieve the WHO’s objective to globally eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by 2030, it is essential to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HBV. Administration of the hepatitis B vaccine to neonates, preferably within 24 hours after birth, is a key intervention recommended by the WHO to reach this goal. However, the timely administration of the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine (HepB-BD) has not been well implemented in low- and middle-income countries for multiple reasons, including a high rate of childbirth at home.

This Special Issue aims to uncover the current situation of the implementation of the HepB-BD, the challenges and facilitators for its timely administration, and potential innovations to overcome these problems. This Special Issue welcomes the submission of papers from a wide range of disciplines including basic science, clinical/epidemiological research, social/anthropological studies, and health economy.

Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa
Dr. Youkyung Choi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.