Subcutaneous administration of inactivated hepatitis B vaccine by automatic jet injection

✍ Scribed by Dr. Stanley M. Lemon; Robert Mcnair Scott; William H. Bancroft

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 557 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890120207

✦ Synopsis

To assess the feasibility of jet injection for mass immunization against hepatitis B virus, inactivated, alum-adsorbed hepatitis B vaccine (Merck, Sharp, and Dohme Research Laboratories, West Point, PA) was administered subcutaneously by automatic jet injection to 19 volunteers lacking antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs). Three 20-pg doses were given at 0, 1, and 6 months. Of 19 volunteers, 5 (26%) developed anti-HBs by 1 month after the first injection, and 15 of 19 (79%) were anti-HBs-positive 6 to 8 weeks after the first booster administration. Following the second booster, 16 of 19 (84%) recipients had detectable anti-HBs. Possible systemic reactions were limited to low-grade fever (37.8"C) in one volunteer following one injection, and mild lethargy in a second recipient. Local reactions to jet injection of vaccine occurred more frequently, with indurated, nodular lesions 3-10 mm in diameter developing at the site of 19 of 57 (33%) vaccine injections, compared with 2 of 57 (3%) saline placebo injections. Such nodules were generally painless. Sore arms were noted in 11 of 57 (19 %) vaccine injections.

With the exception of frequent but minor local reactions, subcutaneous administration of inactivated hepatitis B vaccine by automatic jet injection is safe, and results in vaccine immunogenicity approximating that associated with intramuscular needle injection.