Low-dose intramuscular hepatitis B vaccination in medical students: 4-year follow-up.
BACKGROUND
This is a report on the results of immunization of medical students with low-dose hepatitis B (HB) vaccine prior to starting clinical practice and evaluation of the efficacy of this vaccination scheme.


METHODS
Low-dose (2 microg) recombinant HB vaccine was administered intramuscularly (im) at months 0, 1, 2 and 12 to 105 volunteers who wee HB surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HB core antigen (HBc) negative. Additional doses were administered after the third dose to the vaccines with anti-HBs titers below 10 IU/l.


RESULTS
Protective anti-HBs levels (above 10 IU/l) were obtained in 73.3%, 95.6%, 100% and 92.8% of vaccines with geometric mean titers of 91, 61.6, 3,662 and 367 IU/l at months 3, 12, 13 and 44 months, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term effective protection against HB could be obtained in medical students with this scheme. Low-dose HB im vaccination can be utilized as a cost-saving vaccination strategy.
Erensoy
S
S
Dept. of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Ege University Medical Faculty, Bornova, 35100 Izmir, Turkey. erensoy@med.ege.edu.tr
Bilgiç
A
A
Arda
B
B
Ozer
O
O
D000328:Adult; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical; D013997:Time Factors; D014611:Vaccination
D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines