Abstract

SHAABAN, F.A. et al. Long-term immunity to hepatitis B among a sample of fully vaccinated children in Cairo, Egypt. East. Mediterr. health j. [online]. 2007, vol.13, n.4, pp. 750-757. ISSN 1020-3397.

We assessed the long-term immunity to hepatitis B among 242 Egyptian children aged 6-12 years who had received a full vaccination course in infancy, and investigated the factors associated with immunity. Only 39.4% of the children had protective (≥ 10 IU/L) hepatitis B surface antibody levels (HBsAb). This proportion decreased with age but the decrease was not statistically significant. The mean level of HBsAb decreased significantly with increasing age (P = 0.026). A significant negative correlation was found between current age and HBsAb levels (r = -0.31, P = 0.041). Age and weight-for-age were found to be significant predictors of non-protective HBsAb levels.