Tyra Barksdale, Community Health Education Specialist, Westchester County Department of Health

  • 11 Years of Service

Tyra's mission is to prevent the transmission of the Hepatitis B virus from infected mothers to their infants. She accomplishes this by identifying pregnant women who test positive for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The women identified are monitored throughout their pregnancy. Some of Tyra's case management includes the monitoring of the HBsAg women, their infant(s), any household and sexual contacts the women may have had during the time frame in question as well as insuring that hospitals administer the recommended hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) and hepatitis B vaccine to the infant and to insure infants complete the hepatitis B vaccine series and receive post-vaccination testing. She[RTH(1] is currently monitoring 73 maternal cases of HBsAg positive women who are pregnant or have already delivered, as well as 59 infant cases that require follow up.