A non-randomized vaccine effectiveness trial of accelerated infant hepatitis B immunization schedule

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Vaccine. 2008 Mar 31 [Epub ahead of print]

A non-randomized vaccine effectiveness trial of accelerated infant hepatitis B

immunization schedules with a first dose at birth or age 6 weeks in Côte

d'Ivoire.

Ekra D, Herbinger KH, Konate S, Leblond A, Fretz C, Cilote V, Douai C, Da Silva

A, Gessner BD, Chauvin P.

Institut National d’Hygiène Publique (INHP), Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Most African countries do not initiate hepatitis B vaccination at birth. We

conducted a non-randomized controlled trial comparing hepatitis B vaccination

given at age 0, 6, and 14 weeks versus the current Côte d'Ivoire schedule of 6,

10, and 14 weeks. Pregnant women were enrolled at four health centers in

Abidjan. At age 9 months, 0.5% of infants in both the birth and 6-week cohorts

were positive for HBsAg and all were born to HBeAg-positive women. Among infants

of HBeAg-positive mothers, 9 of 24 (37.5%) in the birth cohort and 10 of 17

(58.8%) in the 6-week cohort were HBsAg positive (adjusted OR, 2.7; 95% CI:

0.7-11.0). While both vaccine schedules prevented most cases of infant HBV

transmission, both also had high failure rates among infants of HBeAg-positive

mothers. African infants may benefit from a birth dose but additional studies

are needed to verify this hypothesis.

PMID: 18436354 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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