Status of hepatitis B immunization programmes in 1998

More than 90 countries have now included hepatitis B (HB) immunization into their National Immunization Programmes as a routine vaccine given to all infants and/or adolescents and many additional countries are planning for the introduction in the next two years. These countries include all industrial countries except the United Kingdom, Ireland, The Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries and Japan. Countries with routine HE immunization include about 45% of surviving new-borns, but almost 70% of hepatitis B virus carriers live in countries with routine HE programmes. Population based studies of IIB immunization from around the world are now being reported with as long as 10 to 15 years of follow-up, showing a reduction of the chronic HE carrier prevalence from high (8% or greater) to low (less than 2%) endemicity in immunized cohorts of infants. Reductions in the price of HE vaccines, a significant increase in the number of producers and the advent of combination vaccines including an HE component will make the vaccine available to more children world-wide, but economic constraints continue to hamper introduction of this vaccine to the children in the poorest countries. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.