Seroepidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B virus among hospitalized patients aged 18 years or below in Henan Province of China / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the current status of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among hospitalized patients aged 1-18 years, as well as the status of immunity after hepatitis B vaccination. Methods Related data were collected from the patients aged 1-18 years who were hospitalized in Henan Provincial People's Hospital from July 2020 to July 2021, including serological markers for hepatitis B (HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBeAg, anti-HBe, and anti-HBc) and hepatitis B vaccination. The epidemiological situation of HBV infection was analyzed, as well as the immune effect after vaccination. The trend chi-square test was used for trend analysis. Results A total of 10 658 hospitalized patients were collected, among whom there were 6 372 male patients (59.79%) and 4 286 female patients (40.21%). In this population, the patients with positive HBsAg accounted for 0.28% (30/10 658), with a relatively high proportion of 0.68% and 0.62%, respectively, in the 17-and 18-year age groups; the patients with positive anti-HBs accounted for 51.82% (5 523/10 658), with a relatively high proportion of > 63% in the 1-4 years age groups, and there was a reduction in the proportion of patients with positive anti-HBs (fluctuating around 40%) in the 5-18 years age groups. With the increase in age, the positive rate of anti-HBs tended to decrease in both male and female patients (male χ 2 =8.217, P =0.004; female χ 2 =10.048, P =0.002). Conclusion Based on the data of hospitalized patients, HBV infection in the population aged 1-18 years in Henan Province has the characteristics of low prevalence rate and high immunity, and the reduction in the proportion of patients with positive anti-HBs at more than five years after vaccination should be taken seriously in this region.