Universal hepatitis B vaccination and the decreased mortality from fulminant hepatitis in infants in Taiwan

Objectives: To assess the annual mortality rate associated with fulminant h epatitis in infants before and after the mass immunization program that was launched in Taiwan in July 1984. Study design: From the National Mortality Registry System, the data on the mortality from fulminant hepatitis in infants from 1975 to 1998 were retrie ved. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the difference in avera ge mortality from, fulminant hepatitis in infants before (1975-1984) and af ter (1985-1998) the implementation of the mass hepatitis B vaccination prog ram. Results: The ratio of yearly mortality from 1976 to 1998 was 1.10 (P < .001 ), representing a progressive decrease in the number or the cases. The aver age mortality associated with fulminant hepatitis in infants from 1975 to 1 984 and from 1985 to 1998 was 5.36 and 1.71 per 100,000 infants, respective ly. The ratio of the average mortality in the period from 1985 to 1998 to t hat in the period from 1975 to 1984 was 0.32 (P < .001). Conclusions: These data indicate that since the institution of a program of mass hepatitis B vaccination in Taiwan, the mortality associated with fulm inant hepatitis in infants has declined significantly.