INTRODUCTION: Reductions in the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and carriage, decreases in liver cancer incidence, and changes in patterns of liver dysfunctions are described after hepatitis B vaccination. METHODS: We conducted a population-based seroprevalence study aimed at estimating the HBV prevalence and risk of infection in the rural area of Lábrea following nineteen years of HBV vaccination. RESULTS: Half of the subjects showed total anti-HBc of 52.1% (95% CI 49.6-54.7). The HBsAg prevalence was 6.2% (95% CI 5.1-7.6). Multivariate analysis showed an inverse association between HBV infection and vaccination (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.44-0.87). HBsAg remained independently associated with past hepatitis (OR 2.44; 95% CI 1.52-3.89) and inversely to vaccination (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.27-0.69). The prevalence of HBeAg among HBsAg-positive individuals was 20.4% (95% CI 12.8-30.1), with the positive subjects having a median age of 11 years (1-46) p=0.0003. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that HBV infection is still an important public health issue and that HBV vaccination could have had better impact on HBV epidemiology. If we extrapolate these findings to other rural areas in the Brazilian Amazon, we can predict that the sources of chronic infected patients remain a challenge. Future studies are needed regarding clinical aspects, molecular epidemiology, surveillance of acute cases, and risk groups.
INTRODUCTION: Reductions in the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and carriage, decreases in liver cancer incidence, and changes in patterns of liver dysfunctions are described after hepatitis B vaccination. METHODS: We conducted a population-based seroprevalence study aimed at estimating the HBV prevalence and risk of infection in the rural area of Lábrea following nineteen years of HBV vaccination. RESULTS: Half of the subjects showed total anti-HBc of 52.1% (95% CI 49.6-54.7). The HBsAg prevalence was 6.2% (95% CI 5.1-7.6). Multivariate analysis showed an inverse association between HBV infection and vaccination (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.44-0.87). HBsAg remained independently associated with past hepatitis (OR 2.44; 95% CI 1.52-3.89) and inversely to vaccination (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.27-0.69). The prevalence of HBeAg among HBsAg-positive individuals was 20.4% (95% CI 12.8-30.1), with the positive subjects having a median age of 11 years (1-46) p=0.0003. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that HBV infection is still an important public health issue and that HBV vaccination could have had better impact on HBV epidemiology. If we extrapolate these findings to other rural areas in the Brazilian Amazon, we can predict that the sources of chronic infectedpatients remain a challenge. Future studies are needed regarding clinical aspects, molecular epidemiology, surveillance of acute cases, and risk groups.
Authors: Márcia da Costa Castilho; Cintia Mara Costa de Oliveira; João Bosco de Lima Gimaque; Jorge Di Tommaso Leão; Wornei Silva Miranda Braga Journal: Am J Trop Med Hyg Date: 2012-08-20 Impact factor: 2.345
Authors: M N dos S Moresco; H de A Virgolino; M P E de Morais; I da Motta-Passos; M S Gomes-Gouvêa; L M S de Assis; K R de L Aguiar; S C F Lombardi; A Malheiro; N de P Cavalheiro; J E Levi; K L Torres Journal: Vox Sang Date: 2014-02-21 Impact factor: 2.144
Authors: Ricardo A A Ximenes; Gerusa M Figueiredo; Maria Regina A Cardoso; Airton T Stein; Regina C Moreira; Gabriela Coral; Deborah Crespo; Alex A Dos Santos; Ulisses R Montarroyos; Maria Cynthia Braga; Leila M M B Pereira Journal: Am J Trop Med Hyg Date: 2015-10-26 Impact factor: 2.345