In haemodialysis patients, hepatitis B virus infection has higher mortality and is more likely to result in the carrier state. Although Hepatitis B vaccine is effective in producing protection against HBV infection, the antibody response may be variable. In this study, seroprotection rate of hepatitis B vaccine in maintenance haemodialysis patients was studied after primary vaccination and afte...

BACKGROUND Little is known about duration of protection after the infant primary series of hepatitis B (HB) vaccine in settings of low HB endemicity. This study sought to determine the proportion of adolescents immunized as infants who had protective titers of antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) before and after a challenge dose of vaccine. METHODS US-born 16- through 19-year-o...

OBJECTIVES To compare the coverage for the third dose and the compliance to two hepatitis B vaccination schedules: 0,1,4 versus 0,1,6 months, in commercial sex workers (CSW) in Belgium; to compare the immunogenicity of the actually administered schedules. METHODS In seven health centres in Belgium, hepatitis B vaccination was offered free of charge to CSW. In a randomised, prospective study a...

Currently marketed vaccines against hepatitis B virus (HBV) based on the small (S) hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) fail to induce a protective immune response in about 10% of vaccinees. DNA vaccination and the inclusion of PreS1 and PreS2 domains of HBsAg have been reported to represent feasible strategies to improve the efficacy of HBV vaccines. Here, we evaluated the immunogenicity of SAI...

OBJECTIVES The aim of our study was to assess immunological changes in hospital employees vaccinated five years ago with a recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. MATERIALS AND METHODS 148 hospital employees were examined at different time periods during 5 years following a three-dose schedule of intramuscular immunization with a recombinant DNA hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix-B). RESULTS At the end ...

Vaccination is the most effective and well-tolerated method of conferring long-term protection against hepatitis A and B viruses (HAV; HBV). Long-term studies are required to characterize the duration of protection and need for boosters. Following primary immunization of 150 and 157 healthy adults with 3-doses of combined hepatitis A/hepatitis B vaccine (HAB; Twinrix™, GSK Vaccines, Belgium) at...

Most persons who receive hepatitis B vaccine during infancy will have a level of antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBsAg) of <10 IU/liter 10 to 15 years later; however, most will demonstrate immune memory by an anamnestic response to a vaccine challenge dose. To determine whether there was a difference in anamnestic response among college students vaccinated during infancy, we compa...

A registry-based follow-up of pregnancy data until the end 2014 was conducted based on a community-randomized trial to assess human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination strategies and reference cohort from same community with no intervention. Our objective determine whether prophylactic HPV (three doses Cervarix® (AS04-HPV-16/18)-vaccine) affects preterm birth (PTB) rates. All identified 80,272 res...

BACKGROUND Vaccinating infants against hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most effective way of preventing the disease. However, since HBV exposure can increase during adolescence, it is essential that antibody persistence is maintained. We evaluated the antibody persistence and immune memory against hepatitis B, in 12-13 y olds who had received complete primary + booster vaccination with diphtheri...