Hepatitis B surface antibody detection among the preschool age children in Taigu county, Shanxi province, 2006

The study was conducted to evaluate the coverage of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine among pre-school age children in Taigu county, Shanxi province. Venous blood samples were collected for all the children investigated and ELISA was used to detect HBsAg, and anti-HBs. Among 3153 children, 1614 were anti-HBs positive with the positive rate of 51.19%, which had no statistical significance among the different age groups. The anti-HBs-positive rate among the children who received booster of hepatitis vaccine after the primary dose series was significantly higher than those who received no booster. The surveillance of anti-HBs and the booster of hepatitis B vaccination in a timely manner can improve childrens immunity against hepatitis B virus and reduce HBV infection.