ArticleAlimentary pharmacology & therapeutics2026
Temporal Association Between COVID-19 Vaccination and HBsAg Loss in Chronic Hepatitis B Infection: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.
Article in Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines as Antigen-Agnostic Immunomodulators: A Repurposing Perspective.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Letter: HBsAg Loss After COVID-19 Vaccination: Implications for HBV Screening, Immunity Monitoring and Health Worker Protection in LMICs.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Letter: HBsAg Loss After COVID-19 Vaccination: Implications for HBV Screening, Immunity Monitoring, and Health Worker Protection in LMICs. Authors' Reply.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Temporal Association Between COVID-19 Vaccination and HBsAg Loss in Chronic Hepatitis B Infection: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsHepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss, a functional cure in chronic hepatitis (CHB), is rare. Temporal changes in HBsAg loss rates were evaluated in relation to COVID-19 vaccination rollout in South Korea.
methodsAn interrupted time series (ITS) analysis was performed using electronic health records of 59,946 adults with CHB (2002-2025). Monthly HBsAg loss incidence rates were estimated using a competing risk framework. National COVID-19 vaccination coverage was used as a surrogate for population-level exposure. A three-phase segmental regression model assessed changes before vaccination, during a predefined vaccination effect period (18 months following ≥ 80% of two-dose coverage), and after this period. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence was analysed as a negative control.
resultsOver 382,509 person-years, 2483 HBsAg loss events occurred. Pre-vaccination rates were stable (0.11-0.80 per 100 person-years). Following the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, the incidence increased to 0.96 in 2021, peaking at 1.27 in 2022, before declining to 0.93 in 2024. In the ITS model, no baseline trend was observed (p = 0.606). At the intervention point (November 2021), HBsAg loss rates increased significantly (incidence rate ratio; 1.56; 95% CI 1.26-1.93; p < 0.001). No significant slope change was observed during the vaccination period, while a negative slope change was observed post-vaccination (coefficient -0.039 per month; p = 0.003). Findings were consistent across sensitivity and subgroup analyses. HCC incidence showed no significant changes.
conclusionCOVID-19 vaccination was temporally associated with transiently higher HBsAg loss rates in CHB, followed by attenuation, suggesting a potential population-level immunomodulatory effect on HBV dynamics.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.