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February 03, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Long-Term Immunogenicity and Efficacy of Universal Hepatitis B Virus Vaccination in Taiwan" Journal of Infectious Diseases (www.journals.uchicago.edu/JID/home.html)

(01/01/2003) Vol. 187, No. 1, P. 134; Lin, Yu-Cheng; Chang, Mei-Hwei; Ni, Yen-Hsuan

Little is known definitively about the long-term immunogenicity of universal hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine because few studies have been performed in large prospective community-based groups, especially among adolescents.  A study performed in Taiwan by researchers at the National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine involved 1,200 children from the age of seven years with full immunizations against HBV in infancy.  The children were tested each year until they were 14 years old for HBV surface antigen, its antibody, and HBV core antibody.  Of the 1,200 patients, 11 developed new HBV infections with antibodies as the only marker.  None, however, showed any HBV surface antigens or had detectable HBV DNA.  Among the 951 children without booster vaccinations, 71.7 percent at seven years of age showed antibody production, but only 37.4 percent of those children showed antibodies at the age of 12 years.  Just one of the 200 children in the booster group showed new antibody positivity, while only two of the 258 children in the non-booster group demonstrated positivity.  The results indicate that children may not require routine booster vaccination to maintain protection against chronic HBV infection before the age of 15 years.

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