Research Article Hepatitis B Virus Immunity Gap: A Six-Year Laboratory Data Review of Hepatitis B Serological Profiles in Gauteng Province, South Africa Nonhlanhla Mbenenge , 1,2 Kathleen Subramoney, 1,2 Clement Gascua Adu-Gyamfi, 3,4 and Florette K. Treurnicht 1,2 1 School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2 Department of Virology, National Health Laboratory Service, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa 3 Brain Function Research Group (BFRG), School of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 4 Center for Vaccines and Immunology, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg, South Africa Correspondence should be addressed to Nonhlanhla Mbenenge; nonhlanhla.mbenenge@nhls.ac.za Received 24 January 2023; Revised 13 April 2023; Accepted 4 May 2023; Published 17 May 2023 Academic Editor: Shih•Chao Lin Copyright©2023NonhlanhlaMbenengeetal.TisisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. In 1995, the hepatitis B vaccine in South Africa was incorporated into the childhood expanded programme of immunization. We report on immunity gaps of laboratory•based hepatitis B virus (HBV) among patients in public facilities in Gauteng Province from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2019. Methodology. We analyzed HBV serological data extracted from the National Health Laboratory Services Central Data Warehouse (NHLS CDW). A descriptive analysis was performed for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to HBV core (anti•HBc) total, anti•HBc IgM, and antibodies to HBV surface antigen (anti•HBs) according to annual distribution, age groups, and sex. Results. Te HBsAg positivity rate was 7.0% (75,596/ 1,095,561; p � 0.001): 7.4% (96,532/944,077) in the 25 years and over age group and 4.0% (358/9,268 and 325/10,864) in the under 5 and 13–24 year age groups. Te positivity rates of the other HBV serological markers were as follows: anti•HBc total was 37.0% (34,377/93,711; p < 0.001), anti•HBc IgM was 2.4% (5,661/239,237; p � 0.05), and anti•HBs was 37.0% (76,302/206,138; p ≤ 0.001). Naturally acquired HBV immunity was detected in 25.7% (11,188/43,536) of patients in the 25years and over age group, and 9.7% and 8.2% (113/1,158 and 541/6,522) among those under 5years and 13–24year age group, respectively (p < 0.001). Vaccine•induced immunity was 56.6% (656/1,158) in children under 5 years and 10.2% (4,425/43,536) among those 25 years and above (p < 0.001). Fifty•six percent (29,404/52,581) of patients were HBV seronegative; predominantly among patients in the 13–24 year age group (60.6%; (3,952/6,522)) and 25 years and over (56.3% (24,524/43,536)) (p � < 0.001). Conclusion. Te HBV infection seroprevalence remains high in South Africa, with Gauteng province having high intermediate endemicity. However, the HBV immunity gap has shifted from younger children to older children and adults. 1. Introduction Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a potentially life• threatening, vaccine•preventable infection. It may acutely present as icteric hepatitis and less commonly as fulminant hepatitis or as chronic hepatitis that results in liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma [1, 2]. In 2019, an estimated 316 million people globally became chronically infected with HBV [3]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) global hepatitis report, the African region was estimated to have 60 million chronic HBV• infected people, and tSe sub•Saharan region carried the Hindawi Advances in Virology Volume 2023, Article ID 6374874, 11 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6374874