ReviewVaccines2026
Hepatitis B Immunization Among Healthcare Students: A Narrative Review of Occupational Risk, Seroprotection, and Immunization Management.
Review in Vaccines, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesHealthcare students face an occupational risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) exposure during clinical training, often many years after receiving their primary vaccination series in infancy or childhood. Progressive waning of anti-hepatitis B surface (anti-HBs) antibody titres, heterogeneous vaccination histories in international student cohorts, high rates of underreported needlestick injuries, and variable occupational health protocols across institutions raise important questions about the adequacy of pre-clinical immunization surveillance in this population. This review aimed to synthesize current evidence on hepatitis B immunization among healthcare students, focusing on occupational exposure risk, seroprotection and immunological memory, clinical management of low or absent anti-HB titres including post-exposure prophylaxis, and the specific challenges posed by multicultural academic settings.
methodsA narrative review was conducted through a systematic literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus, covering publications from January 2000 to December 2025, supplemented by key seminal references. After the removal of duplicates and stepwise screening, 49 references were selected for final inclusion.
resultsNeedlestick and sharps injuries occur at measurable rates during clinical training, with medical students accounting for approximately 30% of occupational exposure events in some series, and with underreporting rates estimated at 19-80% across studies. Pooled seroprotection prevalence at clinical training entry is approximately 73.8% (95% CI 69.1-78.0%), with substantially lower rates among students vaccinated in infancy-as low as 28% at 16-20 years post-vaccination in longitudinal data-compared with adolescence immunization. The majority of students with non-protective titres retain immunological memory, with 90.9% (95% CI 87.7-93.3%) demonstrating an anamnestic response after a single booster dose. Post-exposure prophylaxis pathways depend critically on pre-existing immunological status, reinforcing the operational value of pre-clinical serological screening. International student cohorts present additional complexity due to heterogeneous vaccination schedules, documentation gaps, and variable natural immunity profiles.
conclusionsSystematic pre-clinical serological screening (anti-HBs, HBsAg, and anti-HBc), combined with evidence-based stepwise immunization management and structured educational interventions, is essential to protect healthcare students from occupational HBV exposure. The primary operational goal of screening is the identification of the approximately 5% of true non-responders who require tailored occupational health management. These findings support a proactive, integrated approach to hepatitis B immunization surveillance in healthcare education, aligned with the WHO 2030 viral hepatitis-elimination targets.
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.