Prevalence of Markers for Hepatitis B Virus and Vaccination Compliance Among Medical School Students in Italy

The prevalence of markers for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the rate of compliance with HBV vaccination laws were investigated in a study at Padua University Medical School (Italy). Of 2,361 students, 385 (16.3%) tested negative for antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen. When vaccination was actively offered to these students, there was a low rate of compliance (47.0% [181 students]) but a good rate of seroconversion (93.1% [95 of 102 students]). Screening for HBV markers appears to be crucial to efforts to increase rates of vaccination coverage. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2008; 29:1189-1191 Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination has been mandatory in Italy since 1991 for infants and for 12-year-old adolescents (law 165/91), but, for subjects exposed to biological risk, it is only suggested. The vaccination schedule for infants is at the third, fifth, and eleventh month of life; for adults, at time 0, after 1 month (30 days), and after 6 months (180 days). Because of the lack of compulsion, the healthcare workers who are not required to undergo HBV vaccination have a low rate of such vaccination, 1 even though, before the use of vaccine, the risk of infection in hospital settings was 3‐5 times that of the general population. The decreased risk has been attributed to the use of the vaccine rather than to the use of standard precautions. 2 The aim of the present study was to evaluate the rate of vaccination against HBV of the Italian students who had grown up under the HBV vaccination schedule already described and who were attending graduate courses of the Padua University Medical School (Italy). When we noted negative serology test results, we actively offered HBV vaccination and a check of HBV markers after vaccination. methods