Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a significant health burden world-wide, although vaccines help decrease this problem. We previously identified associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms in several candidate genes with vaccine-induced peak antibody level (anti-HBs), which is predictive of long-term vaccine efficacy and protection against infection and persistent carriage; here we ...

OBJECTIVE Iran has the highest rate of opiate use worldwide. However, most opiate users are not screened for hepatitis virus infections. This study aimed to provide accurate, detailed data on the size of the opiate user population at risk of developing these infections. METHOD This seroprevalence study was conducted in the city of Shiraz, southern Iran. All participants were screened for HBV,...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the immunogenicity of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccines in children with sickle cell disease. DESIGN Open study. SETTING Haemoglobinopathy clinic. SUBJECTS Children with homozygous haemoglobin SS disease (HbSS), sickle haemoglobin C disease (HbSC), and sickle-beta thalassaemia disease (HbS-beta Thal). INTERVENTIONS Children over the age of 2...

BACKGROUND In 2000, hexavac and infanrix hexa were licensed in Europe for primary immunisation of children against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, and invasive infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae b. In 2005, hexavac was suspended because of concerns about the long-term immunogenicity of its hepatitis B component. We aimed to assess the duration of immunity an...

BACKGROUND Different studies have demonstrated that a small proportion of healthy individuals receiving the hepatitis B (HB) vaccine do not produce protective levels of anti-HB antibody, a phenomenon which could be linked to certain human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class-II alleles or haplotypes. OBJECTIVES The present study was undertaken to determine the frequency of HLA class-II alleles in Ir...

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is the result of excessive cytokine release, leading to over-response by immune cells, such as macrophages and T lymphocytes. Here, we report a lethal case of HLH with a complete clinical course. The patient was a 45-year-old man with fever and chills since two months ago plus splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and pancytopenia. The Anti-HBc IgM was positive, b...

background: poor response to various vaccines especially hepatitis b is common. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of selenium on immune response against hepatitis b vaccine with accelerated method in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients.methods: in this randomized clinical trial study, 62 insulin dependent diabetic patients were divided into case and control groups (e...

BACKGROUND Hemodialysis patient are at high risk for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Although preventive vaccination is done routinely, the response to vaccination is low in this patient population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Levamizol, an enhancer of the immune responsiveness, on different routes of vaccination, i.e., intradermal (i.d.) versus intramuscular (i.m.), ...

The recent addition of testing volunteer blood donors for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) has raised questions not apparent when such testing is applied to hepatitis B (HB) infected patients. The review of published studies, and our own, demonstrates that it is difficult to evaluate false positive results. Some patients appear to lose antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (ant...