Hepatitis B virus seroconversion rates among health sciences students in the southeastern United States

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the hepatitis B virus (HBV) seroconversion rate among health sciences students. Participants: The study included pharmacy, doctor of nursing, and medical students over 18 years of age enrolled at the University of South Carolina between 2007 and 2011. Methods: The primary end point was HBV seroconversion rates among students at the initial reporting period. Seroconversion was defined as hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) level greater than or equal to 10 mIU/mL. Multivariate regression analysis was used to determine predictive factors of seroconversion. Results: Of 777 records, data were available for 709 students. An 83.9% seroconversion rate was observed after a mean of 10 years between vaccine receipt and anti-HBs evaluation. Students with incomplete HBV vaccine series and longer time between initial series and evaluation were less likely to exhibit antibody response. Conclusions: These data highlight the importance of assessment and documentation of HBV vaccination series among health sciences students prior to direct patient care activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Health education
• health sciences
• hepatitis B virus
• immunization
• seroconversion
• students, titer

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the contributions of Sara Wolf, PharmD, and April M. Quidley, PharmD, BCPS, FCCM, for data collection and study design and Donna Wall, LPN, for her assistance in accessing immunization records. Chelsea Ambrose was a student at the SC College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina, during the study and manuscript development. Preliminary results were presented in part at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Virtual Poster Symposium, May 22–23, 2012, abstract no. 86.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the University of South Carolina Institutional Review Board.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.