— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
How effective is hepatitis B immunization? A study of 100 people who received all three of the required vaccine doses at a Laguna Beach, Calif., clinic found the percentage of people who generated an adequate number of protective hepatitis B antibodies was far below what the vaccine's manufacturer promised.
The study, published in the January 2015 issue of theBiological Research for Nursing, followed 100, predominantly white men, average age 39, who received all three doses.
The participants were tested for hepatitis B surface antibodies, to see how many were adequately protected against hepatitis B as a result of the vaccination.
Only 78.6% of the participants, who were healthy and had no immune-suppressing infection such as HIV, generated an adequate level of surface antibodies.
"The manufacturer-published rates of seroconversion are 90-100%, depending upon the population," the researchers wrote. "These findings highlight a need for further study to validate or reveal deficits in current vaccine protocols for individuals who are vaccinated against hepatitis B, including health care workers, the immune-compromised and other high-risk populations."
Labels: vaccine durability, vaccine weakness
