Hepatitis B vaccination coverage and antibody level to hepatitis B virus in children living in remote mountain area in Hekou, Yunnan

Objective To understand the hepatitis B vaccination coverage and surface antibody level to hepatitis B in children living in remote mountain area in Hekou county, Yunnan province and provide evidence for the improvement of local hepatitis B prevention and control. Methods Cluster random sampling was conducted to select children aged 8-17 months, 18-23 months, 2-3 years and 4-5 years in 9 villages of 3 townships in remote mountain area in Hekou. Blood samples were taken from the children selected to detect HBsAg and anti-HBs with ELISA. Results A total of 205 children were surveyed. The timely vaccination rate of the first dose hepatitis B vaccine was 60.00%, the completed vaccination rate was 89.76% and the qualified vaccination rate was 83.90%. The differences in age specific completed vaccination rate and qualified vaccination rate had no statistical significance (2=7.01, PP0.05； 2=2.11, P0.05), but the difference in age specific timely 1st vaccination rate had statistical significance (2=13.50, P0.01). The overall HBsAg positive rate was 1.46% and the overall anti-HBs positive rate was 69.76%. The difference in age specific HBsAg positive rate had no statistical significance, but the difference in age specific anti-HBs positive rate had statistical significance (2=31.96, P0.01). Conclusion In 2013, the completed vaccination rate and qualified vaccination rate of hepatitis B vaccine in children in remote mountain area in Hekou were all above 80%. Anti-HBs level decreased with age. It is necessary to improve the newborns hepatitis B vaccination, increase the first dose vaccination rate and completed vaccination rate to increase the positive rate of antibody to hepatitis B virus in children for the purpose of reducing the incidence of hepatitis B.