title: Absence of antibodies to HTLV-III in health workers after hepatitis B vaccination.
abstract: A proportion of the plasma for the triply inactivated, plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine produced in the United States is obtained from homosexual men. Because homosexual men are a high-risk group for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), concern has emerged that the vaccine could harbor the AIDS agent. To evaluate this risk, we tested 15-month postvaccination serum samples for antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III in 100 health care workers who had received inactivated hepatitis B vaccine lots made from plasma collected between 1977 and 1979 and 100 who had received placebo injections. None of the 200 health workers had serological evidence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III infection. These serological findings lend additional support to earlier epidemiologic and immunologic observations suggesting that hepatitis B vaccine does not transmit infection with an AIDS virus.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Dienstag
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: McLane
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Snydman
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Craven
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Crumpacker
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Polk
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Platt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allan
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D001900:Boston; D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006280:Health Workforce; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D006801:Humans; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines