Evaluation of the Impact of Hepatitis B Vaccination in Adults in Jiangsu Province, China

Hepatitis B immunization programs for newborns, children, and adolescents in China have shown remarkable results. To establish whether there would be any benefit in extending the program to cover older individuals, we examined both the epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the coverage of hepatitis B vaccinations among adults born before routine vaccinations were implemented. We then evaluated the impact of hepatitis B vaccination in adults aged 20-59 years. A large-scale cross-sectional epidemiological survey of HBV infection was performed in the province of Jiangsu, south-east China, between September 2009 and March 2010. A total of 86,732 adults aged 20-59 years were included, of which 8,615 (9.9%, 95% CI = 9.7-10.1%) were HBsAg sero-positive. Self-reported vaccination status suggested that the coverage was approximately 23.7% (95% CI = 23.4-24.0%). It was shown that higher HBV vaccination coverage was associated with a lower rate of HBsAg seropositivity among adults. There was a negative correlation between hepatitis B vaccination coverage and HBsAg prevalence (correlation coefficient = -0.805, p = 0.016), which might demonstrate the combined effects of vaccination and pre-vaccination HBsAg screening. In the unvaccinated group, the HBsAg-positive rate had an obvious upward trend with age growing among 20-39 year-olds (Trend χ2 = 22.605, P<0.001), while the vaccinated group showed no such trend (Trend χ2 = 3.462, P = 0.063). Overall, hepatitis B vaccination in adults might reduce the rate of HBsAg positivity. Therefore, routine immunization of adults aged 20-39 years should be seriously considered.