TY - JOUR AU - Kabore, Hyacinte AU - Li, Xi AU - Allison, Robert AU - Avagyan, Tigran AU - Mihigo, Richard AU - Takashima, Yoshihiro AU - Tohme, Rania T1 - Effects of Decreased Immunization Coverage for Hepatitis B Virus Caused by COVID-19 in World Health Organization Western Pacific and African Regions, 2020 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2022 VL - 28 IS - 13 SP - 217 SN - 1080-6059 AB - The World Health Organization–designated Western Pacific Region (WPR) and African Region (AFR) have the highest number of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted childhood immunization, threatening progress toward elimination of hepatitis B by 2030. We used a published mathematical model to estimate the number of expected and excess HBV infections and related deaths after 10% and 20% decreases in hepatitis B birth dose or third-dose hepatitis B vaccination coverage of children born in 2020 compared with prepandemic 2019 levels. Decreased vaccination coverage resulted in additional chronic HBV infections that were 36,342–395,594 in the WPR and 9,793–502,047 in the AFR; excess HBV-related deaths were 7,150–80,302 in the WPR and 1,177–67,727 in the AFR. These findings support the urgent need to sustain immunization services, implement catch-up vaccinations, and mitigate disruptions in hepatitis B vaccinations in future birth cohorts. KW - hepatitis B virus KW - COVID-19 KW - respiratory infections KW - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - SARS KW - coronavirus disease KW - zoonoses KW - viruses KW - coronavirus KW - chronic hepatitis B KW - hepatitis B vaccines KW - health impact assessment KW - United States KW - Republic of the Congo KW - Philippines DO - 10.3201/eid2813.212300 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/13/21-2300_article ER - End of Reference