Predictive factors for anti-HBs status after 1 booster dose of hepatitis B vaccine

I-Cheng Lu1, Mei-Chu Yen Jean, Chi-Wei Lin

  • 1aDepartment of Family Medicine, E-Da Hospital bI-Shou University cDepartment of Occupational Medicine, E-Da Hospital dKaohsiung Medical University eDepartment of Anesthesia, E-Da Hospital fDepartment of Hepatology and Gastroenterology Medicine, E-Da Hospital gDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan ROC.

Medicine
|September 30, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Young adults who lost hepatitis B immunity after childhood vaccination can regain protection with one booster dose. Prebooster antibody levels strongly predict a positive response, potentially saving vaccine doses and costs.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Vaccinology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Infants in Taiwan receive 3 doses of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine.
  • Some young adults lose anti-hepatitis B surface antibody (HBs) positivity despite childhood vaccination.
  • Booster doses are often needed to restore protective antibody levels.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify a predictive factor for screening individuals needing a single HBV vaccine booster dose.
  • To determine factors influencing the regain of positive anti-HBs status (≥10 mIU/mL) or protective status (≥100 mIU/mL) after a booster.

Main Methods:

  • 103 university freshmen with prior complete HBV vaccination but negative anti-HBs were recruited.
  • Participants received one HBV booster dose, with anti-HBs titers rechecked after 4 weeks.
  • Multivariate logistic regression analyzed prebooster anti-HBs level, BMI, SGPT, and sex as predictors.

Main Results:

  • 50 students achieved protective postbooster anti-HBs status (≥100 mIU/mL).
  • Prebooster anti-HBs level was the strongest predictor for both positive (≥10 mIU/mL) and protective (≥100 mIU/mL) postbooster status.
  • The odds ratio for prebooster anti-HBs level predicting positive status was 218.645 (P=0.001).

Conclusions:

  • Prebooster anti-HBs level is a powerful predictor for achieving positive and protective anti-HBs status after a single HBV booster.
  • Individuals with prebooster anti-HBs >1 mIU/mL are likely to regain immunity with one booster.
  • This approach can conserve HBV vaccines, saving costs and time.