Introducing Hepatitis B vaccine in preadolescents meant a decline in the disease incidence rate by 52 % according to a study in which the University of Barcelona (UB) took part.
Introducing Hepatitis B vaccine in preadolescents meant a decline in the disease incidence rate by 52 % according to a study in which the University of Barcelona (UB) took part. The study analysed the efficiency and impact of the vaccination program set in Catalonia twenty-one years ago. The results show that after introducing the program, the incidence rate in general population went from 2.5 per 100,000 people in 1991 to 1.2 per 100,000 people in 2014.
The study, published in the scientific journal Vaccine, counts on the participation of experts from the Research Group on Epidemiology, Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases of the UB, the Public Health Agency of Catalonia and the Barcelona Public Health Agency, led by Professor Àngela Domínguez, from the Department of Medicine of the UB and the Epidemiology and Public Health Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBERESP, Institute of Health Carlos III).
Hepatitis B is a globally important viral disease due its morbidity, mortality and high chronicity in children. Chronicity increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and patients with a chronic disease are permanent transmitters of the virus. In 1991, systematic vaccination for Hepatitis B was introduced in Catalonia in preadolescents. “So far, only risk groups were vaccinated, such as those working in the health sector or haemophiliac and haemodialytic patients. However, this type of vaccination was not enough to reduce the incidence”, note the researchers.
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Image: Experts from the Research Group on Epidemiology, Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases of the University of Barcelona (UB), the Public Health Agency of Catalonia and the Barcelona Public Health Agency, led by Professor Àngela Domínguez (UB). (Credit: UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA)
