Coverage rate of hepatitis B vaccine among children 1 to 14 years old in Gansu province

Objective To examine the coverage rate of hepatitis B vaccination (HepB) among children 1 to 14 years old in Gansu province 12 years after HepB was included into Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), and to provide references for formulating hepatitis B control strategies. Methods With two-stage random cluster sampling, 1 952 children aged 1 to 14 years were recruited from 5 counties (districts) of Gansu province and surveyed with a questionnaire in 2014. Results Among the children surveyed, the proportions of with first dose of HepB (HepB1), timely HepB1, and full-course HepB inoculation were 96.36%, 88.57%, and 95.85%, respectively, and the proportions were reversely correlated with the age of the children (P < 0.001);there were no significant gender and ethnic group differences in the proportions (P > 0.05).However, the coverage rate of HepB1, timely HepB1, and full-course HepB inoculation were significantly higher in the urban children than in the rural (P < 0.001).The hospitalized delivery rate of the children surveyed was 93.53% and 57.29% of the children were born in county hospitals.The ratio of the children delivered at the city level or above hospitals, township hospitals, at home, and unknown place were 17.96%, 18.28%, 4.33%, and 2.14%, respectively.The coverage rate of HepB1 and timely HepB1 for the children born at city level or above hospitals were 99.30% and 95.45%, and the rate for the children born at home or unknown place was 83.50% and 59.22%.There were significant differences in the coverage rates of HepB1 and timely HepB1 among the children delivered at different places (P < 0.001). Conclusion The rate of full-course HepB and timely HepB1 inoculation increased obviously among the children under age of 15 years since the inclusion of HepB into EPI in Gansu province and maintained high relatively.Increasing the hospitalized delivery rate is a key measure to improve timely HepB1 inoculation rate among the children.