title: High immunogenicity of delayed third dose of hepatitis B vaccine in travellers.
abstract: Travellers often present late for the third dose of hepatitis B vaccination and measuring anti-HBs serology is common practice to ensure that these individuals are protected. We assessed the adequacy of immune response in 86 healthy travellers who had their third dose of hepatitis B (HB) vaccine performed more than 1 year (median: 3.4 years; range: 1.1-10.5 years) after the second dose. Eighty-two travellers (95.3%) had evidence of sero-protection (anti-HBs titre >10 UI/L) including 16/17 (94.1%) travellers who had an interval of more than 5 years between second and third vaccine dose. We did not find any risk factor associated with insufficient response.
authors.affiliation: Travel and Migration Medicine Unit, Geneva University Hospitals, rue Micheli-du-Crest 24, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. yves.jackson@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chappuis
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mezger
authors.forename: Kathi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanappa
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Loutan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines