Influenza vaccination in HBsAg positive chronic active hepatitis patients treated with interferon

Sixteen patients with hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) positive chronic active hepatitis (CAH) were vaccinated with the nonhuman influenza A virus Heq1Neq1; eight patients were also treated with leucocyte interferon. Pre-vaccination sera were negative for specific antibody in hemagglutination inhibition tests. Four weeks after vaccination all patients had responded with a homologous antibody titer. Between the interferon-treated and the untreated groups the differences in antibody titers against the vaccine virus were not significant. Concomitant with the antibody response against the nonhuman influenza virus, a fourfold or higher antibody rise was observed against the influenza A virus strains Hsw1N1 (in six treated with seven untreated patients), H1N1 (in six treated and four untreated patients) and H3N2 (in five treated patients only). The results suggest that a normal specific antibody response in HBsAg positive chronic active hepatitis patients is not significantly altered by leucocyte interferon, and that non-specific antibody production can occur in the absence of a serologic relationship.