Epidemiology - SEIEVA data
Epidemiological data as of December 31, 2022
Hepatitis B vaccination: where we are now
In Italy, hepatitis B vaccination is recommended for, and offered free of charge to, all people in at-risk groups and, pursuant to Law 165/1991, all those born since 1980. Every year, however, SEIEVA receives several reports of hepatitis B infection in unvaccinated people from the target groups for vaccination. The figure below shows the number of reported cases of hepatitis B in these target groups, revealing a downward trend over the years (2001-2022): from almost 100 cases a year in the first few years to 14 cases in 2022, despite a slight increase on 2020 and 2021 probably attributable to underreporting during the COVID-19 emergency. Most cases of infection among at-risk groups are still being recorded in people living in the same household as chronic carriers of hepatitis B (green line). This gives food for thought and, once again, highlights the importance of proper communication to continue raising awareness about the benefits of vaccination. It is the duty of healthcare workers to inform patients and members of their household about the disease and the availability of an effective and safe vaccine. As for mandatory vaccination, coverage rates have been suboptimal over the last few years, also falling below the WHO-recommended threshold of 95% (94% in the 2019 birth cohort) (source: Ministry of Health). The percentage of people who slip through the net of mandatory vaccination is not high, but preventable cases of infection continue to be reported every year (6 in 2022 – blue line). Over the last 4 years, no more than 1-2 cases of infection have been reported per year for each of the remaining categories (healthcare workers – red line; drug addicts using public addiction services – purple line): although the target of “zero cases” has not yet been achieved, this proves the effectiveness of prevention strategies in both healthcare settings and addiction services.