Peer-reviewed article
Hepatitis B Vaccination Coverage and Vaccine-Associated Immunity Among US-Born Children and Adolescents: NHANES 2017-2020.
Yihao Lin, Yongchun Hou, Zhequan Chen, Yan Zhang, Bruce Agins et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined hepatitis B vaccination coverage and immunity levels in US children and adolescents aged 2-18 using national survey data from 2017-2020. Among 2,852 children, 83.9% had completed the hepatitis B vaccination series, but only 35.2% of vaccinated children showed vaccine-associated immunity. Vaccination coverage declined during this period, and immunity levels decreased with age. Age, race/ethnicity, family income, and hepatitis A antibody status were significant factors associated with vaccination coverage.
Key points
- Complete hepatitis B vaccination coverage was 83.9% among US-born children and adolescents aged 2-18
- Only 35.2% of fully vaccinated individuals showed vaccine-associated immunity
- Hepatitis B surface antibody levels decreased significantly with age
- Vaccination coverage declined during the 2017-2020 period
- Age group, race/ethnicity, family income to poverty ratio, and hepatitis A antibody status were significant factors associated with complete vaccination coverage
Limitations
The study uses cross-sectional data and cannot establish causation or track individual immunity changes over time. The findings are specific to US-born children and may not represent all populations or vaccination schedules in other contexts.
Abstract
Since the initial recommendations for universal infant hepatitis B vaccination in the United States, vaccination coverage has increased significantly. However, a trend of declining antibody levels has been observed among early vaccinees. This study aims to investigate hepatitis B vaccination coverage and vaccine-associated immunity among US-born children and adolescents. We used data from the 2017-2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to include US-born participants aged 2 to 18 years who had complete hepatitis B serological data and vaccination history. We determined the prevalence of completing the hepatitis B vaccination series and the prevalence of vaccine-associated immunity. A total of 2,852 US-born children and adolescents were included in the study, achieving a complete hepatitis B vaccination coverage rate of 83.9% (95% CI: 81.5%-86.3%). Among the 2,317 individuals who had complete hepatitis B vaccination series, the vaccine-related immunity rate was 35.2% (95% CI: 32.5%-37.8%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified age group, race/ethnicity, family income to poverty ratio, and hepatitis A antibody as significant factors associated with complete vaccination coverage (p < 0.05). Additionally, the hepatitis B surface antibody levels decreased with age (p < 0.05). Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among US-born children and adolescents declined during the 2017-2020 period. Targeted vaccination efforts in underserved populations may help improve vaccination coverage. Future continuous monitoring of trends in both vaccination and seropositivity rates is needed.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Hepatitis B vaccination series according to US recommendations
- Population
- US-born children and adolescents aged 2-18 years
Key finding
83.9% achieved complete vaccination series coverage