Evaluation of Vaccine Induced Immunity to Hepatitis B Virus among Health Care Workers in a University Hospital in Iran

Objective: To evaluate the level of anti-HBs antibody among health care workers (HCWs) in a university hospital in Shahre-Kord, Iran, during 2008-2009 Design: Prospective study Setting: Charmahal-Baktiari province, Iran. Subjects: Two hundred and fifty seven health care workers (HCWs) in a university hospital Intervention: Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) Main Outcome Measure: Seroprevalence of anti-HBsAg (IgG) Results: 85 6% of the individuals were female Regardless of gender, 21 of the 257 (8.2%) HCWs lacked immunity, 91 of 257 (35 4%) were partially immune, and 145 (56 4%) exhibited immunity against the virus The post-vaccination period was five years, in 221 (86%) and more than five years in 36 of the 257 individuals studied (14%) Thee were more male non-responders (15%) than female (8%) There was a significant relationship between post-vaccination period and anti-HBsAg antibody titer (p < 0.05) Conclusion: Based on our results, the post-vaccination period of immunity to this virus in HCW workers is five years