Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Feb 16:6:e4297.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.4297. eCollection 2018.

Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus in Taiwan 30 years after the commencement of the national vaccination program

Yang-Cheng Hu #  1 , Chih-Ching Yeh #  1   2 , Ruey-Yu Chen  1 , Chien-Tien Su  1   3 , Wen-Chang Wang  4 , Chyi-Huey Bai  1   5 , Chi-Fei Chan  6 , Fu Hsiung Su  5   7   8   9
Affiliations

Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus in Taiwan 30 years after the commencement of the national vaccination program

Yang-Cheng Hu et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Background: In this study, the long-term efficacy of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination was assessed using seroprevalence and an age-period-cohort (APC) model of HBV seromarkers among university entrants 30 years after the introduction of the national neonatal HBV vaccination program in Taiwan.

Methods: In total, data of 17,611 university entrants who underwent university entrance health examinations between 2005 and 2016 were included. The seroprevalence of the HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and the levels of the antibody against the HBV surface antigen (anti-HBs) in each year group and sex were calculated. The levels of the antibody against the HBV core antigen were examined only for 2012 and 2016. The APC model was used to analyze the HBV carrier rates.

Results: The chronic HBV infection (HBsAg positivity) rate decreased from 9.7% in university students born before June 1974 to <1.0% in students born after 1992. The prevalence of anti-HBs positivity declined, particularly between the 1984-1988 cohort (78.2%-53.2%) and the 1990-1994 cohort (60.6%-44.4%). Our APC model revealed that the chronic HBV carrier rate among the student population was affected significantly by age, period, and cohort (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: HBV vaccination is one of the most effective strategies for preventing HBV infection. However, for complete eradication of HBV infection, the development of strategies that detect vaccination failure more effectively than current strategies do and early implementation of appropriate treatments are both necessary.

Keywords: Age–period–cohort; Hepatitis B virus; Vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity status of the students from a university in Taiwan who were enrolled between 2005 and 2016 according to birth year.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Antibody against hepatitis B surface antigen positivity status of the students from a university in Taiwan who were enrolled between 2005 and 2016 according to birth year.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Beasley RP, Hwang LY. Hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis B virus. Seminars in Liver Disease. 1984;4:113–121. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1040651. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bruce MG, Bruden D, Hurlburt D, Zanis C, Thompson G, Rea L, Toomey M, Townshend-Bulson L, Rudolph K, Bulkow L, Spradling PR, Baum R, Hennessy T, McMahon BJ. Antibody levels and protection after hepatitis B vaccine: results of a 30-year follow-up study and response to a booster dose. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2016;214:16–22. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiv748. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Center for Disease Control, Taiwan 2015 national various immunization completion rate. 2017. http://www.cdc.gov.tw/professional/page.aspx?treeid=5b0231beb94edffc&now.... [15 April 2017]. http://www.cdc.gov.tw/professional/page.aspx?treeid=5b0231beb94edffc&now...
    1. Chang MH. Impact of hepatitis B vaccination on hepatitis B disease and nucleic acid testing in high-prevalence populations. Journal of Clinical Virology. 2006;36(Suppl 1):S45–S50. - PubMed
    1. Chen DS, Hsu NH, Sung JL, Hsu TC, Hsu ST, Kuo YT, Lo KJ, Shih YT. A mass vaccination program in Taiwan against hepatitis B virus infection in infants of hepatitis B surface antigen-carrier mothers. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1987;257:2597–2603. doi: 10.1001/jama.1987.03390190075023. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources