More May Be Better: HBV Vaccination in HIV-Infected Patients

Four doses of HBV vaccine resulted in higher seroconversion rates than the standard three-dose schedule.

The rate of response to hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine is much lower in HIV-infected patients than in healthy, HIV-uninfected adults. To determine whether immunogenicity can be improved in this population, investigators compared the standard three-dose intramuscular (IM) vaccine protocol (20 µg at weeks 0, 4, and 24) with two alternative, four-dose strategies: one involving IM injections of double-dose vaccine (40 µg at weeks 0, 4, 8, and 24) and the other using intradermal (ID) administration of low-dose vaccine (4 µg at weeks 0, 4, 8, and 24).

A total of 437 HIV-infected patients with CD4 counts >200 cells/mm³ were randomized to one of the three strategies. The vaccine used (GenHevac B) was different than ones commonly used in the U.S. (E…

Reviewing Author

Rajesh T. Gandhi, MD

More May Be Better: HBV Vaccination in HIV-Infected Patients

Topics

Reviewing Author