[Hepatitis B vaccination in alcoholics]

The immune response after HB vaccination (20 micrograms, 3 times) was investigated in 15 alcoholics and the immunological background was also studied before the vaccination in some of these cases. Anti-HBs was detected in only 8 (53.3%) out of 15 vaccinated alcoholics and the anti-HBs titers of these 8 responders were less than 16 cut off index at the last observation. Immunologically, peripheral lymphocyte count and/or the OKT4/OKT8 ratio of lymphocytes in 2 alcoholics (non-responders to vaccination) were lower than those in a control case (good responder). But, there were no differences in serum anti-HAV, anti-EBNA positive rates, immunoglobulin levels and blastogenesis by PHA, Con-A between responders and non-responders. These data suggest that poor response to HB vaccination is probably due to an impaired cellular immunity in alcoholics and the necessity of re-vaccination for no or low responders should be considered.