Zanella Beatrice, Bechini Angela, Boccalini Sara, Sartor Gino, Tiscione Emilia, Bonanni Paolo
Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy.
Medical Specialization School of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy.
Vaccines (Basel). 2020 Mar 30;8(2):156. doi: 10.3390/vaccines8020156.
Hepatitis B still represents a health concern, although safe and effectivevaccines have been available since 1982. Italy introduced a program of universal vaccination againsthepatitis B in 1991. The aim of this study was to assess the immunity levels towards hepatitis B in asample of sera from the pediatric and adolescent population in the province of Florence, CentralItaly, twenty-seven years after the implementation of universal vaccination.
A total of 165sera samples were collected from the resident population of Florence aged 1-18 years. The anti-HBsand anti-HBc enzyme-linked immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) tests were performed on all samples.The anamnestic and vaccination status data were also collected.
Seroprevalence of anti-HBswas approximately 60%, with children aged 1-5 years having the highest positivity rate (81.6%),and decreasing trends in the older age groups. The zero prevalence of anti-HBc shows that thedetected protective immunity is mainly due to vaccination, and natural infection was not reportedin the studied population.
The seroprevalence of anti-HBs and the lack of anti-HBc inthis study highlights that immunity levels have been derived mainly from immunization. Thisconfirms how vaccination dramatically reduced circulation of the hepatitis B virus in Italy in thepediatric and adolescent population twenty-seven years after implementation of the mandatoryuniversal program.
尽管自1982年以来已有安全有效的乙肝疫苗，但乙肝仍然是一个令人担忧的健康问题。意大利在1991年推出了一项针对乙肝的普遍疫苗接种计划。本研究的目的是评估在意大利中部佛罗伦萨省实施普遍疫苗接种27年后，儿科和青少年人群血清样本中对乙肝的免疫水平。
从佛罗伦萨1至18岁的常住人口中总共收集了165份血清样本。对所有样本进行抗-HBs和抗-HBc酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测。还收集了既往史和疫苗接种状态数据。
抗-HBs的血清阳性率约为60%，1至5岁儿童的阳性率最高（81.6%），且在年龄较大的组中有下降趋势。抗-HBc的零流行率表明检测到的保护性免疫主要归因于疫苗接种，且在所研究人群中未报告自然感染情况。
本研究中抗-HBs的血清阳性率以及抗-HBc的缺乏突出表明免疫水平主要源自免疫接种。这证实了在实施强制性普遍疫苗接种计划27年后，疫苗接种如何在意大利的儿科和青少年人群中显著减少了乙肝病毒的传播。
