A comparison of hepatitis B seroepidemiology in ten European countries

Abstract

SUMMARYTo inform current and future vaccination strategies, we describe the seroepidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in ten representative European countries using standardized serology that allowed international comparisons. Between 1996 and 2003, national serum banks were compiled by collecting residual sera or by community sampling ; sera were then tested by each country using its preferred enzyme immunoassays and testing algorithm, and assay results were standardized. Information on current and past HBV vaccination programmes in each country was also collected. Of the ten countries, six reported low levels (<3%) of antibodies against HBV core antigen (anti-HBc). Of the eight countries testing for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), the highest prevalence was reported in Romania (5 . 6%) and in the remaining seven countries prevalence was <1 %. Universal HBV vaccination programmes had been established in seven countries as recommended by the World Health Organization, but the seroprevalence of antibodies against HBsAg (anti-HBs) was lower than the reported vaccine coverage in three countries. Regular serological surveys to ascertain HBV status within a population, such as reported here, provide important data to assess the need for and to evaluate universal HBV vaccination programmes.

Serological Pattern of Hepatitis B, C, and HIV Infections Among Immigrants in Sicily: Epidemiological Aspects and Implication on Public Health

“…Area-specific prevalences reported in this work appeared in the range or a bit higher than observed in the geographical region the people came from [4,16]. In particular, sub-Saharan African immigrants presented the highest prevalence of active HBV infection, and 70% of them were younger than 40 years.…”

Global Epidemiology of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection

“…In contrast, low HBV endemicity (0.5-1 %) is reported in most Western and Central Europe and in countries such as Belgium, Italy, Germania, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. A lowest of HBV seroprevalence (<0.5) is found in the Netherlands and Northern European countries including the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavian countries such as Denmark and Finland [26][27][28]. According to a recent report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 17.329 new cases of hepatitis B were reported in 2012, corresponding to 3.5 per 100,000 population [29].…”

Occult hepatitis B virus infection among Egyptian blood donors

“…A decrease of HBV infection incidence was observed following HBV vaccine implementation in many countries with moderate to high HBV endemicity [56,57] .…”