title: The Seroconversion Rate of Hepatitis A Virus Vaccination among Patients with Hepatitis B Virus-Related Chronic Liver Disease in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroconversion rate of a hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccination in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related chronic liver disease (CLD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses were conducted using clinical records from 94 patients with chronic HBV infection who were seronegative for IgG anti-HAV antibodies between September 2008 and June 2009. Two doses of an HAV vaccine were administered 24 weeks apart. A third vaccine dose was administered only for patients seronegative for anti-HAV antibodies at week 48.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The seroconversion rate of anti-HAV following the two-dose vaccination was 86.17%. The seroconversion rate of anti-HAV was not significantly different according to age or status of liver disease. The rate was higher in female than in male patients. A third HAV vaccine dose was administered to 13 patients seronegative for anti-HAV after the two-dose regimen, and 84.62% of these patients showed seroconversion at week 72.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HAV vaccination is effective in most Korean patients with HBV-related CLD, and it might be necessary to evaluate three-dose vaccination approach for non-responders to the conventional regimen to maximize the success of an HAV vaccination program.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Chin
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Yu Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Moon Seok
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Joon Hyeok
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kwang Cheol
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Byung Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Seung Woon
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Paik