Hepatitis A and B booster recommendations: implications for travelers.
Hepatitis A and B are serious vaccine-preventable diseases with a predominantly overlapping epidemiological distribution. Travelers, a term encompassing a range of individuals, are at risk of contracting these diseases if they are unvaccinated. Although the benefits of the primary vaccination course of hepatitis A and B vaccines are clear, the administration of hepatitis A and B boosters varies worldwide. Recommendations on the need for booster vaccinations have recently been published, and the implications of these recommendations for travelers are discussed in this review. Until a greater understanding is reached on the immunogenicity of hepatitis A and B vaccines in certain special groups (e.g., immunocompromised persons), there will be a need to monitor antibody levels to assess whether booster vaccinations are required. However, for the majority of immunocompetent travelers, the full primary vaccination course will provide protection from both hepatitis A and B infection in the long term, without the need for boosters.
Zuckerman
Jane N
JN
Academic Centre for Travel Medicine and Vaccines and Royal Free Travel Health Centre, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Travel Medicine, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, United Kingdom. j.zuckerman@medsch.ucl.ac.uk
Connor
Bradley A
BA
von Sonnenburg
Frank
F
D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D014195:Travel; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*
D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines