title: Comparative evaluation of the immunogenicity of yeast-derived (recombinant) and plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine in infants.
abstract: The immunogenicity of plasma-derived (HB Vax,MSD) and recombinant hepatitis B virus (Engerix B, SK&F) vaccines was evaluated in infants born to hepatitis B virus carrier mothers. The vaccination was carried out at 1 day, 1 month, and 6 months of age using 10 micrograms of the vaccine given intramuscularly. A total of 83/88 (94.3%) and 74/79 (93.6%) of the infants receiving the plasma-derived vaccine and yeast-derived vaccine showed antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs). None of the maternal factors studied apart from the HBeAg positivity corellated with vaccine failure. The yeast-derived vaccine gives marginally lower antibody titre than the plasma-derived vaccine. The group-specific anti-"a" antibody was less than 10% of the total anti-HBsAg titre. It was observed that the vaccine alone without prior administration of hepatitis B immunoglobulin is effective in perinatal infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, AIIMS, New Delhi.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Panda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramesh
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Nayak
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D002353:Carrier State / Q000276:immunology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011247:Pregnancy; D014611:Vaccination; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines