BACKGROUND Most cases of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and subsequent liver diseases can be prevented with universal newborn HBV vaccination. The attitudes of health care workers about HBV vaccination and their willingness to recommend vaccine have been shown to impact HBV vaccination coverage and the prevention of vertical transmission of HBV. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the...

Without intervention, a pregnant woman who is a chronic hepatitis B carrier is at risk of transmitting hepatitis B and of her infant becoming a chronic carrier and having a significantly increased lifetime risk of developing liver cancer or cirrhosis. Hepatitis B vaccine and immunoglobulin reduce the risk of the baby becoming a carrier, but with only a short window period after birth to deliver...

The duration of hepatitis B vaccine-induced immunity was studied in a group of 54 seronegative health professionals who received plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine (Merck's Heptavax) in 1978 and 1979. Five to seven years later, 52 vaccinees received a booster dose of yeast recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Merck's Recombivax). Of 54 vaccinees, 47 (87 percent) had a favorable anti-HBs response (g...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess the antibody response to combined passive-active immunization versus active immunization against hepatitis B in 71 patients with acute leukemia with negative hepatitis B virus serology at presentation. METHODS The first group (n=28) received a double dose of hepatitis B vaccine at 0, 1, 2 and 6 months and immunoglobin (HBIG) at 0 and 1 month concu...

In order to evaluate the seroepidemiology and response to Butang vaccine in adolescents from low income families in Central Brazil, blood samples of 664 adolescents were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc), and hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) markers, and multiple logistical regression analysis was carried out to determine variables assoc...