title: Kinetics of antibody response to hepatitis B virus determinants and to recombinant vaccines in Italy.
abstract: The kinetics of antibody response to the group determinant a and subdeterminants d and y of hepatitis B virus were studied after infection and following immunisation with two recombinant DNA yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccines. The initial antibody response was to the subdeterminant epitopes, whereas anti-a antibody, which provides protection against different subtypes of the virus, was not detected for some weeks or months. The delay in the development of anti-a antibody after active immunisation raises important issues of early protection against infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, University of Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Zanetti
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tanzi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vigano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cargnel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hojvat
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000939:Epitopes; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007700:Kinetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014765:Viral Vaccines
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014765:Viral Vaccines