BACKGROUND Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccination is an important preventive intervention for HIV-infected population. Data regarding booster HBV vaccine for persons with low HBV surface antibody (sAb) titers after vaccination in this immunocompromised population is lacking. METHODS We randomized 60 HIV-infected subjects lacking HBV protection after completion of 3 doses of HBV vaccine to receive a bo...

BACKGROUND A therapeutic vaccine for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection that enhances virus-specific cellular immune responses is urgently needed. The "prime-boost" regimen is a widely used vaccine strategy against many persistence infections. However, few reports have addressed this strategy applying for HBV therapeutic vaccine development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To develop an...

AIM To assess the efficacy and safety of in vivo electroporation (EP)-mediated dual-plasmid hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA vaccine vs placebo for sequential combination therapy with lamivudine (LAM) in patients with chronic hepatitis B. METHODS Two hundred and twenty-five patients were randomized to receive either LAM + vaccine (vaccine group, n = 109) or LAM + placebo (control group, n = 116). ...

BACKGROUND Combination vaccines improve coverage, compliance and effectively introduce new antigens to mass vaccination programmes. This was a phase III, observer-blind, randomized study of GSK Biologicals diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis vaccine combined with hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines, containing a reduced amount of polyribosyl-ribitol-phosphate (PRP) and a ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Although hepatitis B vaccine immunogenicity is high, certain risk factors such as age, tobacco consumption, obesity and genetic background have been associated with low responsiveness to HBV vaccine. We aimed to evaluate the role of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in non-responder adults to HBV vaccine in a low endemic area for HBV. MATERIAL AND METHODS A tot...

BACKGROUND In South Africa, the first HBV vaccine dose is administered at age 6 weeks, leaving a potential window for vertical transmission. Insights into HBV seroprevalence in the vulnerable HIV-infected group are important to drive improvements in surveillance, treatment and prevention. OBJECTIVES We set out to implement a screening program for HBV among HIV-infected children and adolescent...

Hepatitis B prevention in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries relies on vaccination programmes. We describe the epidemiology of acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) at country and EU/EEA level during 2006-2014. Using a multi-level mixed-effects Poisson regression model we assessed differences in the acute HBV infection notification rates between groups of countries that started un...

Background & Objectives: Hepatitis B is one of the major health problems in the world. Health care workers (HCWs) are at high risk of acquiring hepatitis B virus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HBV infection and the immune response to HBV vaccine among the HCWs in Babol, northern...

background hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection is much more common in hemodialysis patients than the general population. these patients have an impaired immune response to hbv vaccination; to that end there are certain studies that have evaluated levamisole as an immunomodulator agent improving hbv vaccination response rate in hemodialysis patients. objectives in the current review, we have assem...

AIM In this study we co-administered melittin along with HBsAg/alum vaccine to investigate if it helps elicitation of Th1/Th2 response. BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a life-threatening liver infection, which can lead to chronic liver disease. Vigorous T cell responses are stimulated at acute, self-limiting HBV infection, while chronic HBV infection elicits very weak T cell r...