title: Long-term anti-HBs antibody persistence following infant vaccination against hepatitis B and evaluation of anamnestic response: a 20-year follow-up study in Thailand.
abstract: Hepatitis B vaccine has been available worldwide since the mid-1980s. This vaccine was evaluated in a clinical trial in Thailand, conducted on subjects born to hepatitis B surface antigen positive and hepatitis B e-antigen positive mothers and vaccinated according to a 4-dose schedule at 0, 1, 2 and 12 mo of age and a single dose of hepatitis B immunoglobulin concomitantly at birth. All enrolled subjects seroconverted and were followed for 20 y to assess the persistence of antibody to the hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) (NCT00240539). At year 20, 64% of subjects had anti-HBs antibody concentrations≥10 milli-international units per milli liter (mIU/ml) and 92% of subjects had detectable levels (≥3.3 mIU/ml) of anti-HBs antibodies. At year 20, subjects with anti-HBs antibody titer<100 mIU/ml were offered an additional dose of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine to assess immune memory (NCT00657657). Anamnestic response to the challenge dose was observed in 96.6% of subjects with an 82-fold (13.2 to 1082.4 mIU/ml) increase in anti-HBs antibody geometric mean concentrations. This study confirms the long-term immunogenicity of the 4-dose regimen of the HBV vaccine eliciting long-term persistence of antibodies and immune memory against hepatitis B for up to at least 20 y after vaccination.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology; Department of Paediatrics; Faculty of Medicine; Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Poovorawan
authors.forename: Voranush
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chongsrisawat
authors.forename: Apiradee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Theamboonlers
authors.forename: Priya Diana
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Crasta
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Messier
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hardt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D013785:Thailand; D013997:Time Factors; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines
keywords: challenge dose; hepatitis B; hepatitis B virus; persistence; vaccine