Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at Birth
Background/Objectives: Immunization with the hepatitis B vaccine is the most effective means of preventing acute HBV infection. However, whether the primary vaccination of infants confers lifelong immunity remains controversial. Therefore, the ongoing surveillance of vaccine recipients is required....
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| author | Ge Zhong Zhi-Hua Jiang Xue-Yan Wang Qin-Yan Chen Lu-Juan Zhang Li-Ping Hu Mei-Lin Huang Yu-Bi Huang Xue Hu Wei-Wei Zhang Tim J. Harrison Zhong-Liao Fang |
| author_facet | Ge Zhong Zhi-Hua Jiang Xue-Yan Wang Qin-Yan Chen Lu-Juan Zhang Li-Ping Hu Mei-Lin Huang Yu-Bi Huang Xue Hu Wei-Wei Zhang Tim J. Harrison Zhong-Liao Fang |
| author_sort | Ge Zhong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Objectives: Immunization with the hepatitis B vaccine is the most effective means of preventing acute HBV infection. However, whether the primary vaccination of infants confers lifelong immunity remains controversial. Therefore, the ongoing surveillance of vaccine recipients is required. Methods: A longitudinal study was carried out based on LongAn county, one of the five clinical trial centers for hepatitis B immunization in China in the 1980s. Serum samples were collected and tested for HBV serological markers and DNA. Results: A total of 637 subjects born in 1987–1993 were recruited, including 503 males and 134 females. The total prevalence of HBsAg was 3.9%. The prevalence in females (8.2%) was significantly higher than that in males (2.8%) (<i>p</i> = 0.004). The prevalence of anti-HBc in females (52.2%) was also significantly higher than that in males (41.2%) (<i>p</i> = 0.021). The prevalence of anti-HBs was 42.7% and did not differ significantly between males (41.7%) and females (46.3%) (<i>p</i> = 0.347). Compared to data from surveillance over the last ten years, the positivity rate of HBsAg did not increase. The positivity rate of anti-HBs decreased significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.049) while that of anti-HBc increased significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.001). The prevalence of occult HBV infection (OBI) in 2024 (6.0%) was significantly higher than that in 2017 (1.6%) (<i>p</i> = 0.045). Subjects diagnosed with OBI in 2017 maintained occult infection in 2024. Conclusions: Neonatal HBV vaccination maintained effective protection for at least 37 years. However, the prevalence of OBI increases with age in those vaccinated at birth, raising a new issue of how to prevent and control OBI in the post-universal infant vaccination era. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-54414c5efd2d4d74b4d9348414dd9d49 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-393X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
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| series | Vaccines |
| spelling | doaj-art-54414c5efd2d4d74b4d9348414dd9d492025-08-20T03:12:12ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2025-02-0113217410.3390/vaccines13020174Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at BirthGe Zhong0Zhi-Hua Jiang1Xue-Yan Wang2Qin-Yan Chen3Lu-Juan Zhang4Li-Ping Hu5Mei-Lin Huang6Yu-Bi Huang7Xue Hu8Wei-Wei Zhang9Tim J. Harrison10Zhong-Liao Fang11Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaDivision of Medicine, University College London Medical School, London WC1E 6BT, UKGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Guangxi Key Laboratory for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, Nanning 530028, ChinaBackground/Objectives: Immunization with the hepatitis B vaccine is the most effective means of preventing acute HBV infection. However, whether the primary vaccination of infants confers lifelong immunity remains controversial. Therefore, the ongoing surveillance of vaccine recipients is required. Methods: A longitudinal study was carried out based on LongAn county, one of the five clinical trial centers for hepatitis B immunization in China in the 1980s. Serum samples were collected and tested for HBV serological markers and DNA. Results: A total of 637 subjects born in 1987–1993 were recruited, including 503 males and 134 females. The total prevalence of HBsAg was 3.9%. The prevalence in females (8.2%) was significantly higher than that in males (2.8%) (<i>p</i> = 0.004). The prevalence of anti-HBc in females (52.2%) was also significantly higher than that in males (41.2%) (<i>p</i> = 0.021). The prevalence of anti-HBs was 42.7% and did not differ significantly between males (41.7%) and females (46.3%) (<i>p</i> = 0.347). Compared to data from surveillance over the last ten years, the positivity rate of HBsAg did not increase. The positivity rate of anti-HBs decreased significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.049) while that of anti-HBc increased significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.001). The prevalence of occult HBV infection (OBI) in 2024 (6.0%) was significantly higher than that in 2017 (1.6%) (<i>p</i> = 0.045). Subjects diagnosed with OBI in 2017 maintained occult infection in 2024. Conclusions: Neonatal HBV vaccination maintained effective protection for at least 37 years. However, the prevalence of OBI increases with age in those vaccinated at birth, raising a new issue of how to prevent and control OBI in the post-universal infant vaccination era.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/2/174hepatitis B virus (HBV)occult HBV infectionhepatitis B vaccinevaccinationprevalence |
| spellingShingle | Ge Zhong Zhi-Hua Jiang Xue-Yan Wang Qin-Yan Chen Lu-Juan Zhang Li-Ping Hu Mei-Lin Huang Yu-Bi Huang Xue Hu Wei-Wei Zhang Tim J. Harrison Zhong-Liao Fang Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at Birth Vaccines hepatitis B virus (HBV) occult HBV infection hepatitis B vaccine vaccination prevalence |
| title | Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at Birth |
| title_full | Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at Birth |
| title_fullStr | Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at Birth |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at Birth |
| title_short | Increasing Prevalence of Occult HBV Infection in Adults Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B at Birth |
| title_sort | increasing prevalence of occult hbv infection in adults vaccinated against hepatitis b at birth |
| topic | hepatitis B virus (HBV) occult HBV infection hepatitis B vaccine vaccination prevalence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/2/174 |
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