Experience with full-dose hepatitis B vaccine in Wellington Hospital staff

Full-dose intramuscular hepatitis B vaccine was given to 42 staff in the dental and renal departments at Wellington Hospital. Immune levels of anti-HBs were obtained in 41 of 42 (98%) staff six months after the first dose of vaccine. In 3 of 38 (8%) staff given three doses of vaccine, anti-HBs levels fell to below the immune range 18 months after the first dose, and a fourth booster dose was given, with subsequent restoration of immune levels of anti-HBs. The commonest side-effect noticed was temporary soreness at the injection site, which occurred in 33% of doses. Two staff experienced positional vertigo after the first and second doses of vaccine, and the third dose was therefore omitted.