Pharmacophore an International Research Journal
Aim: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major causes of viral hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma throughout the world. Medical and paramedical professional staff members are at risk of contracting the virus. Study of vaccination and antibody titer in these people is very important in controlling the virus.
Material and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 on 229 staff working at the hospitals of Jahrom in Iran, all of which were completely vaccinated with recombinant hepatitis B vaccine more than 10 years. Blood samples were taken from individuals and serum anti-HBs titer was measured by ELISA assay. Titer over 10 Iu/ml was considered as a positive. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software via descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and Multiple Linear Regression at the significant level of 0.05.
Results: The mean anti-HBs titer was obtained 457.24± 382.41 (95% CI; 407.45-507.04). The anti-HBs titer was <10mIu/Ml in 8 patients (3.5%) and ≥10mIu/Ml in 221 patients (96.5%). There was no significant relationship among anti-HBs titer and factors of gender, occupational groups, marital status, needle stick, BMI and underlying diseases such as diabetes, kidney and liver failures. However, history of receiving last dose of vaccine and older age were negative predictive factors for anti-HBs titer (p-value <0.05).
Discussion: The immunogenicity rate of hepatitis B vaccine within 10 years and over after primary vaccination was 96.5% and given the 33.6% history of needle stick in study staffs, none of the participants reported clinical symptoms consistent with hepatitis B infection in the years after vaccination. Therefore, continuation of vaccination against hepatitis B in the expanded program of immunization in Iran is the best practice of HBV infection control.
