title: Persistence of hepatitis B surface antigen in blood in a chronic haemodialysis patient following vaccination booster.
abstract: Patients receiving haemodialysis are at an increased risk of hepatitis B infection; regular screening for incident infection and vaccination of susceptible individuals is recommended. Haemodialysis patients often require repeated high-dose hepatitis B vaccination boosters because of impaired response. Since the hepatitis B surface antigen is used as an immunogenic agent for vaccination and as a marker of hepatitis B infection, it has occasionally been detected in the blood shortly after vaccine administration and can be mistaken for a new infection. These transient results, however, are unlikely to persist for longer than 14 days after vaccination. We report the case of a haemodialysis patient who tested weakly positive for hepatitis B surface antigen 52 days after a vaccine booster. This is the longest vaccine-induced antigenaemia described in the literature and indicates that vaccination can cause weakly positive hepatitis B surface antigen results for longer than previously reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calisti
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.affiliation: Department of Renal Medicine, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Powley
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Tanzina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Haque
mesh_terms: D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000517:prevention & control; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D006435:Renal Dialysis
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines