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Overseas Hepatitis B Vaccinations Among Newly Arrived Cubans in Texas—2010–2015

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Abstract

We assessed hepatitis B virus (HBV) serologic results among newly arrived Cubans with vaccination documentation. We matched the post-arrival health assessment HBV serologic results of Cubans who arrived during 2010–2015 in Texas with their overseas hepatitis B (HepB) vaccination records in the CDC's Electronic Disease Notification database and calculated the proportion of those immune due to HepB vaccinations. Among 2123 who had overseas HepB vaccination and serologic results, 1072 (50.5%) had three valid documented doses of HepB. Of these 1072, 441 (41.1%) were immune due to HepB vaccination, 24 (2.2%), immune due to natural infection, 599 (55.9%), susceptible to HBV, and 8 (0.7%), HBV infected. Stratified by age, 21 (87.5%) of 24 children <5 years of age showed protection, and the antibody to HepB surface antigen (anti-HBs) decreased as age increased. Our findings concurred with previous observations that anti-HBs serologic results wane over time. Many newly arrived Cubans with complete HepB vaccination records on the U.S. Department of State overseas vaccination forms might be immune despite <10 mIU/mL anti-HBs response levels.

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Funding

Funding was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CK12-1205 Strengthening Surveillance for Diseases among Newly Arrived Immigrants and Refugees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-E03, Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA

    Deborah Lee, Jessica Montour, Anna C. Fulton, Stephen R. Benoit & Yecai Liu

  2. Texas Department of State Health Services, Austin, TX, USA

    Jessica Montour

  3. Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Noele P. Nelson

Authors
  1. Deborah Lee
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  2. Jessica Montour
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  3. Anna C. Fulton
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  4. Stephen R. Benoit
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  5. Noele P. Nelson
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  6. Yecai Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deborah Lee.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This assessment was determined non-research by CDC’s NCEZID Human Subjects Advisor. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was not applicable for this assessment.

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The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of CDC.

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Lee, D., Montour, J., Fulton, A.C. et al. Overseas Hepatitis B Vaccinations Among Newly Arrived Cubans in Texas—2010–2015. J Immigrant Minority Health 20, 755–758 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0649-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0649-6

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