Accelerated vaccination against HBV infection is an important strategy for the control of HBV infection in prisons.

I read with interest the article by Stief et al. published in your journal recently1. It showed us that hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a significant problem in prisons, and it was related with other published studies2,3. The finding on higher prevalence of HBV infection in the male gender and in prisoners with positive history of intravenous drug use and STD demonstrated a new strategy for the control of HBV infection in prisons. Low vaccination coverage and the high number of injecting drug users (IDUs) suggest that most of them are susceptible to this infection. Prisoners and IDUs are at constant risk of HBV infection, and the classic 6-month HBV vaccination might not provide immunization rapidly enough4,5. Compared with classic HBV vaccination regimen, an accelerated 0, 1, 4, and 8 weeks vaccination schedule can achieve early seroprotection more rapidly, provides clinically sufficient seroprotection with higher compliance in prisoners, and can be suggested in situations that rapid immunization against HBV infection is warranted4. I suggest the selection of higher-risk groups in prisons, including males with history of IDUs and STD, to start the accelerated vaccination against HBV infection early. This will be extremely useful to ensure immunity against HBV infection soon.