Hepatitis-B immune status and vaccination in Family Medicine Practice: A retrospective study

TL;DR

This study examines Hepatitis B vaccination rates and antibody levels among healthcare workers and students, finding that antibody levels increase with more vaccine doses.

Contribution

The study highlights the importance of regular antibody monitoring and updated vaccination programs for healthcare workers.

Findings

55.1% of participants received three infant Hepatitis B vaccine doses.

Anti-HBs levels significantly increased with each vaccine dose administered (p=0.01).

Healthcare workers' antibody levels decreased over time, emphasizing the need for regular monitoring.

Abstract

To examine the relationship between Hepatitis B vaccination status and demographic and hepatitis B markers of individuals receiving healthcare services.

The study designed in a retrospective structure using quantitative research methods was conducted with a total of 1837 individuals including medical school students and other healthcare professionals (975 female, 862 male) aged 19-77 who were registered to the Family Health Center between March 1, 2023, and March 31, 2023. In the study, sociodemographic characteristics, infancy and adult full-dose hepatitis-B vaccines, and marker laboratory measurements of these individuals who were registered to the Family Health Center were examined. SPSS 25.00 program was used for statistical analysis and the level of significance was determined as 0.05.

In general, the rate of three doses of vaccination in infancy was 55.1%. Vaccine doses administered to individuals were one with 15.1%, two with 22.9%, and three with 62.1%. In the study, it was determined that anti-HBs levels before and after vaccination differed significantly according to vaccine doses (p=0.01). It was determined that the anti-HBs levels of the three doses vaccine group were 100 and above (p=0.01).

Although the Universal Hepatitis-B Vaccination Program was followed in our study, it was determined that antibody levels in healthcare workers decreased or ended over time, and hepatitis-B antibody levels increased significantly with each dose of vaccine administered. For this reason, it is of great importance to determine regular antibody levels and develop standard vaccination programs, especially in healthcare workers.