IMMUNITY LEVEL TO HEPATITIS B VIRUS IN VACCINATED MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Hepatitis B is a wide world disease and more than 1/3 of people in the world are HBs Ag positive. HBV causes chronic hepatitis, acute hepatitis, chronic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in adults and children. This research was done for evaluation of immunogenicity of HBV vaccine with HBs Ab measurement after vaccination. This descriptive cross-sectional study was done on 135 medical students of Jahrom University of medical science who had been vaccinated three times. The obtained serum was tested by Elisa method to determine for Anti-HBs antibodies. All collected data were entered in statistical software program SPSS (version 16) and were analyzed by descriptive statistics and chi-square and t-test. Out of 135 medical students, 102(75.6%) were women. In this study 13(9.6%) subjects had anti-HBs titer of 10-100(mIu mL^-1) and 122(90.4%) subjects had anti-HBs titer of >100 mIu mL^-1. There was no correlation between immunity level and age, sex, BMI, time after last vaccination and past record of needle stick at work place. Although immunity to hepatitis B was in protective level among all participants, assessment of immunity in healthcare workers after complete vaccination recommended.