TY - JOUR T1 - Universal hepatitis B vaccination in Belgium: impact on serological markers 3 and 7 years after implementation. JF - Epidemiol Infect Y1 - 2014 A1 - Theeten, H A1 - Veronik Hutse A1 - Hoppenbrouwers, K A1 - Beutels, P A1 - Van Damme, P KW - ADOLESCENT KW - Belgium KW - Child KW - Child, Preschool KW - Female KW - Hepatitis B KW - Hepatitis B Antibodies KW - Hepatitis B Vaccines KW - Hepatitis B virus KW - Humans KW - Immunization Schedule KW - Infant KW - Male KW - Mass Vaccination KW - Seroepidemiologic Studies KW - Young adult AB -

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can be eliminated by effective universal vaccination. In Belgium, a free-of-charge HBV vaccination programme in infants with catch-up in adolescents was introduced in 1999. To evaluate the effects in <20-year-olds, seroprotection (anti-HBs >11 mIU/ml, according to the assay) and markers of infection (anti-HBc, HBsAg) were assessed in 2443 residual sera collected 7-8 years after implementation of the programme. The maximal prevalence of a solely anti-HBs seroprotective ('vaccinated') serostatus was 82·9% at age 1 year and 60·5% at age 13 years. A clear increase was found in age cohorts targeted by the campaign after a similar serosurvey conducted 4 years earlier. The prevalence of HBV infection remained unchanged at a low level (1·8% in 2006) similar to pre-vaccination data (1993-1994). We conclude that universal HBV vaccination has achieved overall high levels of vaccine-induced immunity, despite regional variations, which may give rise to pockets of susceptible young adults in the future.

VL - 142 CP - 2 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23689103?dopt=Abstract M3 - 10.1017/S0950268813001064 ER -