HEPATITIS B VACCINE STUDY
How effective is the Hepatitis B vaccine? New research is helping scientists determine whether it lasts as long as they think it does, and whether booster shots are necessary.
Since the early 1980s, the Hepatitis B vaccine has been available to protect against this viral infection. It’s highly effective, but the big question is, how long does it last, and how often do patients need to be revaccinated?
“Because I work in the hospital I thought it was really important to keep my vaccination up to date.” Ellen Watson made sure her Hepatitis B vaccine was up to date. That’s important, because Hepatitis B can lead to liver failure and liver cancer, and even death.
The Hepatitis B vaccine helps boost the immune system’s response against the virus, and is highly effective at protecting against developing the disease and its complications. Dr. Pascal James Impirato, a vaccine expert at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, says, “For the past several years we have been attempting to begin immunizations in infancy, giving children the Hepatitis B vaccine as soon as they are born. And then to give the Hepatitis B vaccine to people who were not vaccinated when they were very young in order to get a very high immunization coverage of the population.”
But how long does the Hepatitis B vaccine last?
The latest research in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows the Hepatitis B vaccine lasts for 15 years, a longer period than the ten years it had been previously thought to last. However, this varies depending upon the age of the person vaccinated.
Older individuals, those 20 and older, are the ones protected the longest, while children who are vaccinated between the ages of 6 months and four years are the ones protected for the shortest period.
“Currently we do not recommend that a booster dose be given several years after the original series of immunizations,” says Dr. Impirato.
This is concerning because, at the time the Hepatitis B vaccine may be waning, in mid-teens to early twenties, is when sexual activity is rising markedly, and the time when these individuals are most at risk.
Dr Douglas Dietrich, a hepatitis expert at Mt. Sinai Medical Center says, “It’s not a bad idea to check antibody levels in teenagers and 20-somethings who are likely to be having sex, to see if they are protected from having Hepatitis B infection, which in that age group is certainly a sexually transmitted disease.”
What is interesting is that blood tests used to detect immunity to the Hepatitis B virus may not be completely accurate, in that even if it shows the immunity is gone, it may not be. The white blood cells may have a built in memory to attack and kill Hepatitis B, and still protect, despite the loss of the marker for immunity. So it might be longer than 15 years. However, experts warn to check the levels and get a booster if the levels are low.
While vaccines are mostly kid stuff, Ellen knows their importance to her as an adult, and is looking to see if a booster of the Hepatitis B vaccine is needed. “I think that keeping up to date on vaccines like the Hepatitis B vaccine, is one of the thing people can do to really safeguard their health,” says Ellen.
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