title: Two booster dose hepatitis B virus vaccination in patients with leukemia.
abstract: The aim of this study was to interpret the antibody response to hepatitis B (HB) vaccination following a two booster dose schedule in 94 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. All patients were between 1-16 years of age with negative hepatitis B virus (HBV) serology and normal hepatic function. Fifty patients were vaccinated with Engerix B vaccine, and 44 patients were vaccinated with GenHevac B vaccine, with a schedule of 0, 1, 6 and 0, 1, 2, as well as booster doses, in 12 and 6 months respectively. A second booster was given as a fifth dose to 16 unresponsive patients in each vaccine group, 3 and 6 months after the first booster for Engerix B and GenHevac B vaccines respectively. Dosage was 20 microg HbsAg for all patients. Seroconversion rates with protective level antibody were 35.1% (n=33/94). The figures were 32.1% (n=16/50) and 38.6% (n=17/44) for Engerix B and GenHevac B vaccines, respectively. Seroconversion rate in patients younger than 10 years old was found to be higher (39.11%) than older patients (24%), but this was not statistically significant. This study indicates that one third of the leukemic children undergoing maintenence chemotherapy responded to HB vaccine with protective titers of anti-HBs. We recommend HB vaccination especially in developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology, Hacettepe University, Ihsan Doğramaci Children's Hospital, 06100, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yetgin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tunç
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koç
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Toksoy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ceyhan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kanra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000276:immunology*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C075654:Engerix-B; C075656:GenHevac B Pasteur; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic