Dear Dr. Aghedo,

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Jason T. Blackard, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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[The HBV vaccination program that gave rise to the data used in this research was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), through the Henry M. Jackson Foundation Medical Research International (HJF-MRI). However, the findings and opinions expressed in this article do not represent opinions of DoD or HJF-MRI, they are solely those of the authors. No specific external funding was received for this research. ]

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Additional Editor Comments:

This is a cross-sectional study of HBV vaccination rates conducted in Lagos, Nigeria.

The methods and results are described well, although the findings are not particularly surprising.

In addition to the comments raised by the two reviewers, additional clarifications below would strengthen the manuscript further:

• The introduction must include information about the availability of HBV vaccination in the public and private sectors across Nigeria as well as any associated cost.  Similarly, what are the nationwide policies/guidelines on HBV vaccination?
• Are HBV medications available in the public and private sectors?

• It is unclear why data prior to 2021 were not included.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: This is an automated report for PONE-D-25-10988. This report was solicited by the PLOS One editorial team and provided by ScreenIT.

ScreenIT is an independent group of scientists developing automated tools that analyze academic papers. A set of automated tools screened your submitted manuscript and provided the report below. Each tool was created by your academic colleagues with the goal of helping authors. The tools look for factors that are important for transparency, rigor and reproducibility, and we hope that the report might help you to improve reporting in your manuscript. Within the report you will find links to more information about the items that the tools check. These links include helpful papers, websites, or videos that explain why the item is important. While our screening tools aim to improve and maintain quality standards they may, on occasion, miss nuances specific to your study type or flag something incorrectly. Each tool has limitations that are described on the ScreenIT website. The tools screen the main file for the paper; they are not able to screen supplements stored in separate files. Please note that the Academic Editor had access to these comments while making a decision on your manuscript. The Academic Editor may ask that issues flagged in this report be addressed. If you would like to provide feedback on the ScreenIT tool, please email the team at ScreenIt@bih-charite.de. If you have questions or concerns about the review process, please contact the PLOS One office at plosone@plos.org.

Reviewer #2: The study investigated the impact of demographic factors and HIV status on HBV vaccination adherence

and completion rate among high-risk populations such as MSM and FSW in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study has been conducted and analysed the data appropriately. The study concluded that there are certain demographic factors playing a role in the uptake of HBV vaccinations among high-risk populations. The manuscript may be accepted for publication after making some minor changes as listed below:

1. It is assumed that the vaccination schedule followed in this study was 0-1-6 and it is important to include these details in the methodology section.

2. In line No.189, the age range mentioned is 5 - 29 years and this typo may be corrected.

3. In line 322, is it 'holistic' or 'wholistic'?

4. In futurology, maybe the authors could consider including antibody titre post vaccination, and this will assess the respondent rate.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Pachamuthu Balakrishnan

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: report_10.1101+2025.03.09.25323632.pdf

Impact of demographic factors and HIV status on Hepatitis B vaccination adherence and completion rate among high-risk populations in Lagos State, Nigeria

PONE-D-25-10988R1

Dear Dr. Aghedo,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Jason T. Blackard, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS One

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

None

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions??>

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #2: All the responses to the queries raised have been addressed appropriately. However, some minor corrections may be needed as follows:

1. Line 153: "subjects" may be replaced with "study participants".

2. If available, the manufacturer details of the vaccine used may be included in the methodology section appropriately.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #2: Yes: Pachamuthu Balakrishnan

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