Investigation on coverage rate of the first hepatitis B vaccine for new entrance students of primary school in 12 Provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities) of West China

Objective The investigation was conducted to study the coverage rate of the first hepatitis B vaccine(hepatitis B)among primary school students in 12 western provinces of China.Methods In the investigation,one county was selected in each of the 12 western provinces based on the coverage rate of EPI vaccines and the distribution of fluid children in September 2005.One school was selected at each area including urban,township and rural,respectively,and 100 new students were selected as the sample randomly from each school.Promotional shirts of immunization plans were distributed followed by the investigation by questionnaire and checking the HepB1 immunization record.Results The coverage rates of the first HepB1 in urban,township and rural areas were 60.4%,53.4%,and 27.6%,respectively,with statistically significance(X2=534,P0.001)The coverage rates of timely HepB1 for new born delivered in hospital at county level or above,at township level and at home were 61.2%,46.5%,and 14.3%,respectively,with significant difference(X2=953.3,P0.001).The coverage rate in regular children residents and fluid children were 47.4% and 41.9%,respectively,with significant difference(X2=16.8,P0.01).Conclusion It is necessary to strengthen the publicity for the prevention of Hepatitis B in western areas,particularly western rural areas,and thus increase the rate of hospital delivery and the coverage rate of timely HepB1.