[Hepatitis B in pediatrics. Considerations on vaccination in leukemia]

The A.A. after briefly describing the epidemiology of B hepatitis in Italy, outline its particular incidence among all the leukemic children in Campania and stress its negative effects on the course and prognosis of the disease. A study on 50 children affected by Acute Leukemia shows that 30/50 appear to be constantly seronegative for HBV. Nine of them received vaccination against B Hepatitis (HB VAX, MS & D) in order to reduce the risk of infection in the course of the chemotherapy. Among the vaccinated children, only two (22%) were found positive for HBsAb after the third inoculation. The fail in response is probably due to the light immunodepressed condition of most of these patients. The achieved results are not very encouraging, but further investigations are needed to decide whether the vaccination can be advisable for these children.