title: Hepatitis B virus infection in northern Uganda: Impact of pentavalent hepatitis B vaccination.
abstract: Chronic hepatitis B virus infection (CHBI) is effectively prevented by vaccination starting at birth. Beginning in 2002 Uganda adopted a policy of providing the pentavalent hepatitis B vaccine starting at 6 weeks of age. However, there is concern that this delay may leave the infant vulnerable to infection during the first 6 weeks of life. We assessed whether vaccination at 6 weeks was an effective strategy by HBV serologic study. Of 656 persons tested for HBV, 9.4% were chronically infected; among children aged 5-9 years the prevalence was 7.6%. Of all tested, 73 were born (i.e., aged ≤ 4 years) after the introduction of the pentavalent vaccine; none were infected with HBV (p = 0.003). In this study, vaccination with the pentavalent vaccine at 6 weeks did not result in CHBI, but rather provides an opportunity to prevent mother-to-infant transmission of HBV infection where there is no access to birth-dose vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Division of Viral Hepatitis, CDC, Atlanta, United States. Electronic address: eht4@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Eyasu H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Teshale
authors.affiliation: Division of Viral Hepatitis, CDC, Atlanta, United States.
authors.forename: Saleem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamili
authors.affiliation: Division of Viral Hepatitis, CDC, Atlanta, United States.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Drobeniuc
authors.affiliation: Division of Viral Hepatitis, CDC, Atlanta, United States.
authors.forename: Maxine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Denniston
authors.affiliation: Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.
authors.forename: Barnabas
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bakamutamaho
authors.affiliation: Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Downing
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines
keywords: Birth-dose; Hepatitis B virus; Mother-to-infant transmission; Pentavalent vaccine; Prevalence