Persistence of Immunity in Adults after 1, 5 and 10 Years with Recombinant Hepatitis B Vaccine in Beijing in 2010–2020

The persistence of immunity after hepatitis B vaccination is still under investigation in adults. In Chaoyang District, Beijing, people who were aged ≥ 18 years and completely immunized with HBV vaccine according to the standard procedure (0–1–6 months) were enrolled. Three groups were set for 1 (Y1), 5 (Y5) and 10 (Y10) years after the hepatitis B vaccination. The following data was collected and analyzed: antibody against hepatitis B virus surface antigen(anti-HBs) positive rates and geometric mean concentration (GMC) between the different compared groups through questionnaires and laboratory detection, including hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBs and antibody against hepatitis B virus core antigen(anti-HBc). All 600 subjects completed the questionnaires and serological tests. Among all subjects, the positive rates of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc were 0, 70.5% (423/600) and 2.5% (15/600), respectively. The anti-HBs positive rates in Y1, Y5 and Y10 groups were 86.5% (173/200), 71.0% (142/200) and 54.0% (108/200) (χ(2) = 50.8, p < 0.001) and showed a linear decreasing trend year by year (trend χ(2) = 50.7, p < 0.001). The GMC in Y1, Y5 and Y10 groups were 296.6 mIU/mL, 51.6 mIU/mL and 25.5 mIU/mL (H = 64.8, p < 0.001), respectively. The anti-HBs positive rates and GMC decreased rapidly after the vaccination of adults against hepatitis B. Screening after 5–10 years and booster vaccination for the unprotected population is recommended.