title: Long-term immunity to hepatitis B among a sample of fully vaccinated children in Cairo, Egypt.
abstract: We assessed the long-term immunity to hepatitis B among 242 Egyptian children aged 6-12 years who had received a full vaccination course in infancy, and investigated the factors associated with immunity. Only 39.4% of the children had protective (> or = 10 lU/L) hepatitis B surface antibody levels (HBsAb). This proportion decreased with age but the decrease was not statistically significant. The mean level of HBsAb decreased significantly with increasing age (P = 0.026). A significant negative correlation was found between current age and HBsAb levels (r = -0.31, P = 0.041). Age and weight-for-age were found to be significant predictors of non-protective HBsAb levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Health, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. fatmashaaban123@hotmail.com
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Shaaban
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Hassanin
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Samy
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Salama
authors.forename: Z N
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Said
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007110:Immunity, Active; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009313:National Health Programs; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines