Hepatitis B and the Need for a Booster Dose

[Guest guest]

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/53/1/68.abstract?etoc

Clinical Infectious Diseases

Volume53, Issue1

Pp. 68-75.

Hepatitis B and the Need for a Booster Dose

Stanley Plotkin, Section Editor

+ Author Affiliations

Elke Leuridan and

Pierre Van Damme

+ Author Affiliations

Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination, Vaccine and Infectious Disease

Institute, World Health Organziation Collaborating Centre for the Prevention and

Control of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp,

Edegem, Belgium

Correspondence: Elke Leuridan, MD, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute,

University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1,Antwerp, B-2610, Belgium

(elke.leuridan@...).

Abstract

After several decades of vaccination against hepatitis B virus in newborns,

infants, adolescents, and adults, the question remains whether a booster dose is

ever needed. Long-term protection is most commonly measured through 4 methods:

the anamnestic response after administration of a booster dose, infection rate

in vaccinated populations, in vitro B and T cell activity testing, and

seroepidemiological studies. Long-term protection is present despite a decrease

in anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies over time. The exact mechanism of

long-term protection, however, is not yet fully understood. There is no need for

boosters in immunologically potent persons as long as a full course was

adequately administered that respected the recommended timelines, as evidenced

by studies conducted up to 20 years after the original immunization course.

However, a booster dose should be planned for immunocompromised patients, based

on serological monitoring.

Received December 28, 2010.

Accepted March 29, 2011.

© The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the

Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions,

please e-mail: journals.permissions@....

[Guest guest]

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/53/1/68.abstract?etoc

Clinical Infectious Diseases

Volume53, Issue1

Pp. 68-75.

Hepatitis B and the Need for a Booster Dose

Stanley Plotkin, Section Editor

+ Author Affiliations

Elke Leuridan and

Pierre Van Damme

+ Author Affiliations

Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination, Vaccine and Infectious Disease

Institute, World Health Organziation Collaborating Centre for the Prevention and

Control of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp,

Edegem, Belgium

Correspondence: Elke Leuridan, MD, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute,

University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1,Antwerp, B-2610, Belgium

(elke.leuridan@...).

Abstract

After several decades of vaccination against hepatitis B virus in newborns,

infants, adolescents, and adults, the question remains whether a booster dose is

ever needed. Long-term protection is most commonly measured through 4 methods:

the anamnestic response after administration of a booster dose, infection rate

in vaccinated populations, in vitro B and T cell activity testing, and

seroepidemiological studies. Long-term protection is present despite a decrease

in anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies over time. The exact mechanism of

long-term protection, however, is not yet fully understood. There is no need for

boosters in immunologically potent persons as long as a full course was

adequately administered that respected the recommended timelines, as evidenced

by studies conducted up to 20 years after the original immunization course.

However, a booster dose should be planned for immunocompromised patients, based

on serological monitoring.

Received December 28, 2010.

Accepted March 29, 2011.

© The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the

Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions,

please e-mail: journals.permissions@....