If You Were Born Before Universal Vaccination Began
India's Universal Immunisation Programme added hepatitis B to its childhood schedule in 2002 for urban areas, and only achieved nationwide rollout by 2011. Anyone born before that window, and many born during it in rural or underserved districts, likely received no hepatitis B vaccine at all. A 2019 seroprevalence study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research estimated that 3.5 to 4% of India's general population carries chronic hepatitis B infection, with higher rates in states like Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram. If you are in your thirties or older and have no vaccination record, assume you were never immunised. Get screened first: a simple HBsAg blood test confirms whether you are already infected. If negative and unvaccinated, the three-dose vaccine series is the next step.
