Hepatitis B vaccination coverage in Germany: systematic review.

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Germany, despite low hepatitis B (HBV) prevalence, has specific populations at higher risk.
• National HBV vaccination strategies are crucial for meeting World Health Organization (WHO) elimination goals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate hepatitis B vaccination coverage (VC) in Germany's general population and at-risk groups.
• To identify evidence gaps for future research on HBV vaccination.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of HBV VC in Germany (2005-2020).
• Inclusion of data from Embase, Pubmed, Livivo, national surveillance, and reference lists.
• Risk of bias assessment using the Hoy et al. tool.

Main Results:

• Data from 67 studies covering various populations were analyzed.
• Vaccination coverage varied significantly: children/adolescents (65.8-90.5%), general adult population (22.9-52.1%), immunocompromised (7.8-89.0%), occupational risk (63.6-96.5%), and non-occupational risk (4.4-84.5%).
• Comprehensive evidence was found for children/adolescents, but data for other groups were sparse or of low quality.

Conclusions:

• Hepatitis B vaccination coverage in Germany is below the WHO 95% target, even for children/adolescents.
• While occupational risk groups often exceed the 80% WHO goal, evidence quality is inconsistent.
• Sparse, low-quality evidence for non-occupational risk groups necessitates further research to guide vaccination programs.