Sero-epidemiology of hepatitis B markers in the population of Tuscany, Central Italy, 20 years after the implementation of universal vaccination

Hepatitis B Seroprevalence in the Pediatric and Adolescent Population of Florence (Italy): An Update 27 Years after the Implementation of Universal Vaccination

“…The results of the present study can be compared with two similar seroepidemiological surveys carried out in 2000 [19] and 2009 [20] in the same area, respectively, 10 years and 20 years after implementation of the universal mandatory hepatitis B vaccination. In both studies, the samples were collected as residual sera from the blood sampling centers of two hospitals in Florence (the Meyer Children's Hospital and the Careggi University Hospital) recording only the personal data related to sex and age.…”

“…In 2000 and 2009, two seroepidemiological surveys were carried out in the province of Florence in order to assess the impact of hepatitis B vaccination 10 years and 20 years after its implementation. The seroprevalence of anti-HBs among the population aged 1-20 years was approximately 82.4% in 2000 [19] and 58.6% in 2009 [20].…”

Should Europe have a universal hepatitis B vaccination programme?

“…5 Furthermore, the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was 0% in 1-10 year olds, and 0.6% in 11-20 year olds in a seroepidemiological survey in Tuscany in 2011, significantly lower than the 5.1% in pre-vaccination cohorts (aged 41-50 years). 6 Similarly, overall HBsAg prevalence decreased from 1.5% in 1989 to 0.7% in 2002 in Catalonia, Spain, where the universal adolescent programme started in 1990. 7 Six countries (Iceland, United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland), with acute hepatitis B incidences between 0.5/100 000 and 3.2/100 000, 8 have not adopted universal immunisation, preferring to target only people at risk.…”

Hepatitis B: Are at-risk individuals vaccinated if screened and found negative for HBV? Results of an online survey conducted in six EU countries

“…However, due to the largely silent nature of the infection, reliable epidemiological data in Europe are lacking for chronic hepatitis B and it has been estimated that up to 90% of infected individuals are undiagnosed [19,20]. The universal vaccination approach has been recognized as the best possible strategy to eliminate the transmission of the infection: not only an overall decline in the number of acute cases was demonstrated in those European countries that implemented universal vaccination programmes, but also a reduction in the carrier rate in immunized cohorts occurred [21][22][23][24]. Despite the success of universal vaccination, still six European countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom) have not implemented a universal vaccination programme yet, instead they have adopted a targeted risk-group based vaccination approach [25].…”