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- Title
Relationship between age and prevalence of hepatitis B infection in first-year university students in Hong Kong.
- Authors
Suen, S.; Lao, T.; Chan, O.; Lau, T.; Leung, T.; Chan, P.
- Abstract
Purpose: To determine the effect of age on the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection during a routine screening programme of first-year students enrolled in Health Sciences Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2001 to 2009. Methods: In a retrospective cohort study, data on the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) status was retrieved from the University Health Service and analysed according to the age of the student at testing and year of birth. Results: Of the 2,688 students enrolled in the study group, 79 (2.9 %) tested positive for HBsAg. The prevalence increased significantly from 0.9, 2.3, 4.3 to 5.5 % for those tested at age ≤18, 19, 20 and ≥ 21 years, respectively ( p < 0.001). On logistic regression analysis, taking age ≤18 years and year of birth before 1983 (before the availability of HBV vaccination) as the reference group, HBV infection increased progressively with age, with an adjusted odds ratio of 3.36 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.01-11.23], 6.04 (95 % CI 1.74-20.98) and 11.61 (95 % CI 3.20-42.13) for age 19, 20 and ≥21 years, respectively. There was no significant change in the odds ratio after adjustment for the year of birth before and after introduction of the vaccination programme. Conclusion: Among the university students enrolled in our study, the overall prevalence of HBV infection before and after the introduction of HBV vaccination was lower than the 10 % found in the general population. There was, however, a significant progressive increase with age at testing from ≤18 to ≥21 years, suggesting a previously overlooked contribution of horizontal transmission to the high prevalence of HBV infection found in our adult population.
- Subjects
HONG Kong (China); HEPATITIS B prevention; HEPATITIS B transmission; AGE distribution; CHI-squared test; COLLEGE students; CONFIDENCE intervals; EPIDEMIOLOGY; HEPATITIS B; HEPATITIS B vaccines; STATISTICS; LOGISTIC regression analysis; DATA analysis; DISEASE prevalence; RETROSPECTIVE studies; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
Infection, 2013, Vol 41, Issue 2, p529
- ISSN
0300-8126
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s15010-012-0379-6