Coverage with timely administered vaccination against hepatitis b virus and its influence on the prevalence of HBV infection in the regions of different endemicity
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Date
2021-01-23
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Abstract
Universal hepatitis B vaccination of newborns was implemented in Russia starting from 1998. From 1998 to 2019, the incidence of acute hepatitis B reduced from 43.8 to 0.57 cases per 100,000 population. Here, we assessed the timely coverage of newborns with the birth dose (HepB-BD), second dose (HepB-2nd), and three vaccine doses (HepB3) in two remote regions of Russia with low (Belgorod Oblast) and high (Yakutia) levels of hepatitis B virus (HBV) endemicity. Vaccination data were obtained from the medical records of 1000 children in Yakutia and 2182 children in Belgorod Oblast. Sera of healthy volunteers from Belgorod Oblast (n = 1754) and Yakutia (n = 1072) across all age groups were tested for serological markers of HBV to assess the infection prevalence and herd immunity. Average HepB-BD coverage was 99.2% in Yakutia and 89.4% in Belgorod Oblast (p < 0.0001) and in both regions varied significantly, from 66% to 100%, between medical centers. The principal reason for the absence of HepB-BD was parent refusal, which accounted for 63.5% of cases of non-vaccination (83/123). While timely HepB-2nd coverage was only 55.4%–64.7%: HepB3 coverage by the age of one year exceeded 90% in both study regions. HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence in the 1998–2019 birth cohort was 0.2% (95% CI: 0.01–1.3%) in Belgorod Oblast and 3.2% (95% CI: 1.9–5.2%) in Yakutia. The proportion of persons testing negative for both antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) and antibodies to HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) in the 1998–2019 birth cohort was 26.2% (125/481) in Belgorod Oblast and 32.3% (162/501) in Yakutia. We also assessed the knowledge of and attitude towards vaccination among 782 students and teachers of both medical and non-medical specialties from Belgorod State University. Only 60% of medical students knew that hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable disease. Both medical and nonmedical students, 37.8% and 31.3%, respectively, expressed concerns about safety and actual necessity of vaccination. These data indicate the need to introduce a vaccine delivery audit system, improve medical education with respect to vaccination strategies and policies, and reinforce public knowledge on the benefits of vaccination.
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Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by grant of the Russian Science Foundation (ID-20-15-00148). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
Birth dose coverage, HBV prevalence, Hepatitis B epidemiology, Hepatitis B vaccine, Public health, 3.1 Basic medicine, 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database, Immunology, Pharmacology, Drug Discovery, Infectious Diseases, Pharmacology (medical), SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Citation
Kyuregyan, K K, Kichatova, V S, Isaeva, O V, Potemkin, I A, Malinnikova, E Y, Lopatukhina, M A, Karlsen, A A, Mobarhan, F A A, Mullin, E V, Slukinova, O S, Ignateva, M E, Sleptsova, S S, Oglezneva, E E, Shibrik, E V, Isaguliants, M G & Mikhailov, M I 2021, 'Coverage with timely administered vaccination against hepatitis b virus and its influence on the prevalence of HBV infection in the regions of different endemicity', Vaccines, vol. 9, no. 2, 82, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9020082