Optimizing hepatitis B vaccination in prison

We aimed to establish the current status of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination in prison.

We carried out two evaluations within a 1-year interval with inmates incarcerated for 6 to 12 months. A monitoring process was introduced in-between the two evaluations.

We included 231 inmates. Overall, 42.9% were immunized because of a previous vaccination and 14.3% because of a previous exposure. Inmates born in an area of medium or high endemicity for HBV were significantly more exposed to HBV. The proportion of non-immunized inmates was 42.8% at the time of incarceration and 27.5% after 6 to 12 months. Vaccination coverage with two doses, after 6 to 12 months, was 63% among patients who were initially non-immunized.

The recently developed accelerated vaccination schedule should help improve HBV vaccination coverage.