4.6 Article

Molecular Sequence Data of Hepatitis B Virus and Genetic Diversity After Vaccination

Journal

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 170, Issue 12, Pages 1455-1463

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwp375

Keywords

communicable diseases; disease notification; disease transmission; infectious; genetic variation; hepatitis B virus; molecular sequence data; vaccination

Funding

  1. ZonMw [50-50800-98-024]

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The effect of vaccination programs on transmission of infectious disease is usually assessed by monitoring programs that rely on notifications of symptomatic illness. For monitoring of infectious diseases with a high proportion of asymptomatic cases or a low reporting rate, molecular sequence data combined with modern coalescent-based techniques offer a complementary tool to assess transmission. Here, the authors investigate the added value of using viral sequence data to monitor a vaccination program that was started in 1998 and was targeted against hepatitis B virus in men who have sex with men in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The incidence in this target group, as estimated from the notifications of acute infections with hepatitis B virus, was low; therefore, there was insufficient power to show a significant change in incidence. In contrast, the genetic diversity, as estimated from the viral sequence collected from the target group, revealed a marked decrease after vaccination was introduced. Taken together, the findings suggest that introduction of vaccination coincided with a change in the target group toward behavior with a higher risk of infection. The authors argue that molecular sequence data provide a powerful additional monitoring instrument, next to conventional case registration, for assessing the impact of vaccination.

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