Immunogenicity of inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in children.
BACKGROUND
Inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is now becoming available in many countries.


METHODS
To evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in healthy children, 99 susceptible schoolchildren from 4 to 15 years of age received 360 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay units of the inactivated hepatitis A vaccine at months 0, 1, and 6.


RESULTS
Antibody to hepatitis A virus seroconversion (> or = 20 mIU/mL) was 97% (96/99) in vaccinees after the first dose and 100% after the second (99/99) and booster (96/96) doses. The geometric mean titers of antibody to hepatitis A virus were 167, 465, and 4133 mIU/mL after each dose of vaccine, respectively. There were no significant side effects during the vaccination. Levels of antibody to hepatitis A virus were also tested in 9 susceptible children at day 7 and months 1 and 4 after the intramuscular injection of 2 mL of immune serum globulin. All children had measurable titers of antibody to hepatitis A virus 1 week after receiving immune serum globulin by sensitive enzyme immunoassay, but measurable titers had disappeared 1-4 months later.


CONCLUSIONS
The inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is safe and immunogenic in healthy children.
Lee
S D
SD
Department of Medicine, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Lo
K J
KJ
Chan
C Y
CY
Yu
M Y
MY
Wang
Y J
YJ
Safary
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000276:immunology; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*
D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase