International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Nov 2020)
Hepatitis-B virus infection in India: Findings from a nationally representative serosurvey, 2017-18
- Manoj V. Murhekar,
- Muthusamy Santhosh Kumar,
- P. Kamaraj,
- Siraj Ahmed Khan,
- Ramesh Reddy Allam,
- Pradip Barde,
- Bhagirathi Dwibedi,
- Suman Kanungo,
- Uday Mohan,
- Suman Sundar Mohanty,
- Subarna Roy,
- Vivek Sagar,
- Deepali Savargaonkar,
- Babasaheb V. Tandale,
- Roshan Kamal Topno,
- C.P. Girish Kumar,
- R. Sabarinathan,
- Sailaja Bitragunta,
- Gagandeep Singh Grover,
- P.V.M. Lakshmi,
- Chandra Mauli Mishra,
- Provash Sadhukhan,
- Prakash Kumar Sahoo,
- S.K. Singh,
- Chander Prakash Yadav,
- Rajesh Kumar,
- Shanta Dutta,
- G.S. Toteja,
- Nivedita Gupta,
- Sanjay M. Mehendale,
- T. Karunakaran,
- Annamma Jose,
- D. Augustine,
- C. Govindhasamy,
- T. Daniel Rajasekar,
- A. Jeyakumar,
- A. Suresh,
- P. Ashok Kumar,
- R. Sivakumar,
- J.W. Banerjee John
Affiliations
- Manoj V. Murhekar
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India; Corresponding author at: ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Ayapakkam, Chennai 600077, India.
- Muthusamy Santhosh Kumar
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India
- P. Kamaraj
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India
- Siraj Ahmed Khan
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Northeast Region, Dibrugarh, India
- Ramesh Reddy Allam
- Science Health Allied Research Education India, Hyderabad, India
- Pradip Barde
- ICMR-National Institute of Research in Tribal Health, Jabalpur, India
- Bhagirathi Dwibedi
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, India
- Suman Kanungo
- ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, India
- Uday Mohan
- King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India
- Suman Sundar Mohanty
- ICMR-Desert Medicine Research Centre, Jodhpur, India
- Subarna Roy
- ICMR-National Institute of Traditional Medicine, Belagavi, India
- Vivek Sagar
- Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
- Deepali Savargaonkar
- ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, India
- Babasaheb V. Tandale
- ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune, India
- Roshan Kamal Topno
- ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, India
- C.P. Girish Kumar
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India
- R. Sabarinathan
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India
- Sailaja Bitragunta
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India
- Gagandeep Singh Grover
- Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Punjab, Punjab, India
- P.V.M. Lakshmi
- Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
- Chandra Mauli Mishra
- King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India
- Provash Sadhukhan
- ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, India
- Prakash Kumar Sahoo
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, India
- S.K. Singh
- King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India
- Chander Prakash Yadav
- ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, India
- Rajesh Kumar
- Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
- Shanta Dutta
- ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, India
- G.S. Toteja
- ICMR-Desert Medicine Research Centre, Jodhpur, India
- Nivedita Gupta
- Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division, ICMR, New Delhi, India
- Sanjay M. Mehendale
- Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division, ICMR, New Delhi, India
- T. Karunakaran
- Annamma Jose
- D. Augustine
- C. Govindhasamy
- T. Daniel Rajasekar
- A. Jeyakumar
- A. Suresh
- P. Ashok Kumar
- R. Sivakumar
- J.W. Banerjee John
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 100
pp. 455 – 460
Abstract
Introduction: India introduced a hepatitis-B (HB) vaccine in the Universal Immunization Program in 2002–2003 on a pilot basis, expanded to ten states in 2007–2008 (phase-1), and the entire country in 2011–2012 (phase-2). We tested sera from a nationally representative serosurvey conducted duing 2017, to estimate the seroprevalence of different markers of HB infection among children aged 5–17 years in India and to assess the impact of vaccination. Methods: We tested sera from 8273 children for different markers of HB infection and estimated weighted age-group specific seroprevalence of children who were chronically infected (HBsAg and anti-HBc positive), and immune due to past infection (anti-HBc positive and HBsAg negative), and having serological evidence of HB vaccination (only anti-HBs positive). We compared the prevalence of serological markers among children born before (aged 11–17 years) and after (aged 5-10 years) introduction of HB-vaccine from phase-1 states. Results: Among children aged 5–8 years, 1.1% were chronic carriers, 5.3% immune due to past infection, and 23.2% vaccinated. The corresponding proportions among children aged 9–17 years were 1.1%, 8.0%, and 12.0%, respectively. In phase-1 states, children aged 5–10 years had a significantly lower prevalence of anti-HBc (4.9% vs. 7.6%, p < 0.001) and higher prevalence of anti-HBs (37.7% vs. 14.7%, p < 0.001) compared to children aged 11–17 years. HBsAg positivity, however, was not different in the two age groups. Conclusions: Children born after the introduction of HB vaccination had a lower prevalence of past HBV infection and a higher prevalence of anti-HBs. The findings of our study could be considered as an interim assessment of the impact of the hepatitis B vaccine introduction in India.
