Serum levels of anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies among vaccinated children aged 1 to 12 years in a rural community in Fars Province, southern Iran

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to find out the levels of anti-HBsAb among vaccinated children in a rural community in Fars Province, Southern Iran. Blood samples were taken from 550 children, aged 1–12 years (mean 6.4 ± 3.5), in 2017 from three villages in the area. A structured questionnaire was used to get the sociodemographic data of the subjects along with determinants concerning the Hepatitis B. Sera samples were examined for anti-HBsAb, using an ELISA commercial kit. Anti-HBsAb were detected in 468 (85.1%) of the subjects. Of the seropositive subjects, 37 (45.1%) were female and 45 (54.9%) were male. In the age group of 0–5 years, 88.7% of the subjects were seropositive. This rate was 84.3% and 78.1% in the age group of 6–10 years old and older than 10 years, respectively. There was a significant association (p < .05) between the anti-HBsAb and age. Findings of the current study revealed that children living in a rural community in southern Iran have appropriate protection against HBV even more than 10 years after being vaccinated. The decline in seropositivity rate of anti-HBsAb with age may further point out the need for a booster dose of HBV vaccine.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-hepatitis B antibodies
• vaccinated
• children
• rural community
• Fars Province
• Iran

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank those children and their parents who collaborated with blood donating. The study was funded by the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Grant No. 97-01-01-17386). This study was the subject of Dr. Sina Vafazadeh MD thesis.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have declared that no conflict of interests exist.