It is recommended that non-responders to hepatitis B vaccine be vaccinated again after hepatitis C is cured

MONDAY, Sept. 18, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) who do not respond to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, according to a study published online July 31 Revaccination should be performed after HCV treatment and eradication. Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Noting that patients with chronic HCV do not respond as effectively to HBV vaccination as the general population, Jesse G. Powell of Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis and colleagues examined whether revaccination after HCV treatment could improve responses. Previous hepatitis B vaccine non-responders were recruited for revaccination after hepatitis C virus eradication.

One month after completion of the vaccine series, 31 of 34 enrolled patients underwent follow-up hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) testing. The researchers found that 21 patients (67.7%) developed reactive HBsAb, 8 patients were non-reactive, and 2 patients had equivocal results (25.8% and 6.5%, respectively). There were no significant differences in HBsAb reactivity according to age, sex, race, or the presence of advanced fibrosis.

“This study has broad public health implications for people with hepatitis infection,” co-author Dr. Jose Debes from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis said in a statement. “It is known that the hepatitis B vaccine is not as effective in people with hepatitis C. What was not known until now is that after treatment for hepatitis C, the hepatitis B vaccine appears to be more effective in this group. “This is important because many of these people There is still a risk of hepatitis B infection. “

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