Immunogenicity of a yeast-recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in high-risk children

✍ Scribed by M. G. Rumi; R. Romeo; M. Bortolini; A. Gringeri; A. R. Zanett; P. M. Mannucci; M. Colombo

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 391 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890270111

✦ Synopsis

Horizontal transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from illicit drug users to their contacts, including young children, can be prevented by active immunization against HBV. Yeast-recombinant hepatitis B vaccines are now available for this purpose, but their potential efficacy in such high-risk contacts has not yet been evaluated. Therefore we gave 20 mcg of a recombinant yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccine to 38 children who were at high risk for HBV infection because they had been institutionalized in a community for drug users in which 8.7% of the occupants are carriers. After third dose of vaccine (at 0, 1, and 6 months), all children had anti-HBs responses with titers of 10 mIU/ml or more, with 81% showing responses greater than 1,000 mIU/ml. At 12 months, the percentage of anti-HBs-positive children was 100%, and the percentage of children with anti-HBs higher than 1,000 mIU/ml was 56%. None of the children developed HBV infection during follow-up. Hence the recombinant vaccine was immunogenic, with percentages of seroconversion and anti-HBs titers comparable with those attained in other categories of high-risk children with plasma-derived vaccines.