Immunogenicity of hepatitis B vaccine in preterm infants
Departments of Neonatology, Ha' Emek, Bnei
Zion and Chaim Sheba (Tel Hashomer) Medical Centers,
Technion Institute of Technology, The B. Rappaport School of
Medicine, Haifa, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel
Aviv University, Israel
Correspondence to: Dr Orna Blondheim, Department of Neonatology, Haemek Medical Center, Afula, Israel. Email: blond{at}netvision.net.il
Accepted 3 April 1998
AIM
To assess the immunogenicity of hepatitis B
vaccine in preterm and term infants, given in a sequence of three doses
beginning soon after birth.
METHODThe immunogenicity of hepatitis B vaccine
was assessed in 176 preterm infants (< 35 weeks of gestation),
immunised soon after birth, and compared with that in 46 term infants.
Titres of hepatitis B antibodies were determined one to two months
after the third vaccine. The significance of the differences between
the term and preterm groups was determined using Student's
t test.
RESULTSA similar proportion of infants in
both preterm and term groups attained protective titres of hepatitis B
antibodies (88.7% vs 93.4%, respectively; p=NS).
However, the term infants had a higher geometric mean titre of
antibodies after the third vaccine than did the preterm infants (701.2 (745.0) vs 469.1 (486.2) mU/ml, respectively; p<0.03).
CONCLUSIONHepatitis B vaccine is effective
in most preterm infants when given soon after birth. It may be
advisable to determine the immune response at 12-24 months of age to
booster the non-responders.
© 1998 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Baley, J. E., Leonard, E. G.
(2005). The Immunologic Basis for Neonatal Immunizations. NeoReviews
6: e463-e470
[Full Text] -
Saari, T. N., and Committee on Infectious Diseases,
(2003). Immunization of Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants. Pediatrics
112: 193-198
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Heath, P T, Booy, R, McVernon, J, Bowen-Morris, J, Griffiths, H, Slack, M P E, Moloney, A C, Ramsay, M E, Moxon, E R
(2003). Hib vaccination in infants born prematurely. Arch. Dis. Child.
88: 206-210
[Abstract] [Full Text]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in ADC Online
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
-
Liver disease
-
Immunology (including allergy)
-
Hepatitis and other GI infections
-
Child health
-
Infant health
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
