Effects of Decreased Immunization Coverage for Hepatitis B Virus Caused by COVID-19 in World Health Organization Western Pacific and African Regions, 2020
The World Health Organization-designated Western Pacific Region (WPR) and African Region (AFR) have the highest number of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted childhood immunization, threatening progress toward elimination of hepatitis B by 2030....
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Published in | Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 28; no. 13; pp. S217 - S224 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
01.12.2022
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The World Health Organization-designated Western Pacific Region (WPR) and African Region (AFR) have the highest number of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted childhood immunization, threatening progress toward elimination of hepatitis B by 2030. We used a published mathematical model to estimate the number of expected and excess HBV infections and related deaths after 10% and 20% decreases in hepatitis B birth dose or third-dose hepatitis B vaccination coverage of children born in 2020 compared with prepandemic 2019 levels. Decreased vaccination coverage resulted in additional chronic HBV infections that were 36,342-395,594 in the WPR and 9,793-502,047 in the AFR; excess HBV-related deaths were 7,150-80,302 in the WPR and 1,177-67,727 in the AFR. These findings support the urgent need to sustain immunization services, implement catch-up vaccinations, and mitigate disruptions in hepatitis B vaccinations in future birth cohorts. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 ObjectType-Review-3 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1080-6040 1080-6059 1080-6059 |
DOI: | 10.3201/eid2813.212300 |