The response to hepatitis a vaccine in children with JIA on immunosuppresive treatment

Methods Matched case control study including patients with JIA and controls. All subjects received two doses of inactivated anti-HAV at 0 and 6 months. Seroconversion rates and anti-HAV IgG antibodies were assessed 4 weeks after the first dose and at 4 and 52 weeks after the last dose. The protective level of IgG antibodies against HAV was set as antiHAV>20mIu/ml. Children were monitored for localized or systemic adverse events for three days and for disease relapse for three months post vaccination. Exclusion criteria were infection or disease flare concomitant or up to four weeks prior to immunization, recent use of steroids (<3m), known liver disease or immunodeficiency, and serum testing positive for HAV infection. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0.