Study on Efficacy of Hepatitis B Immunization in Vaccinated Beta-thalassemia Children in Tehran

OBJECTIVE In thalassemic children, HBV infection is common, thus immunization against HBV will reduce and prevent the rate of infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of HBV immunization and the prevalence of HBV infection in beta-thalassemic children in Tehran. METHODS To assess the efficacy of immunization and determine the immune response of children with beta-thalassemia, sera of 99 children who had received three doses (10/20 µg) of recombinant HBV vaccine in months 0, 1, 6, were selected and tested for HBsAg, HBsAb and anti-HBc by ELISA method. Also, these sera were tested for HBV DNA using nested-PCR method. FINDINGS In 99 beta-thalassemic children, 89 (89.9 %) were anti-HBs positive (responders) and 10 (10.1%) anti-HBs negative (non-responders). 3 (3.03%) were anti-HBc positive and 1(1.01%) was HBsAg positive. HBV DNA was not detected in any of them. CONCLUSION Our results have revealed that hepatitis B vaccine is highly immunogenic for thalassemic children and particularly well tolerated.