Objective: The purpose of the study was to quantitatively evaluate the effect of the hepatitis B vaccine based on 33 years of data published on the HBsAg- and anti-HBs-positive rates.
Methods: All data were obtained from studies in published Chinese scientific journals from 1977 to 2009. The HBsAg- or anti-HBs-positive rate over a certain observation period was presented.
Results: When the anti-HBs-positive rate was low, the ability of anti-HBs to control the HBsAg-positive rate is not apparent. When the anti-HBs level is high, the ability of anti-HBs to control the HBsAg-positive rate increases gradually, and a linear relationship was observed between the HBsAg-positive rate and the anti-HBs-positive rate. However, the rate of decrease of HBsAg positivity was markedly higher than the theoretical rate.
Conclusion: The effect of other known or unknown factors, in addition to the vaccination campaign, could have contributed to the decrease in the prevalence of HBV infection.
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