Efficacy of accelerated hepatitis B vaccination program in patients being actively treated for hematologic malignancies

SummaryBackgroundThe goal of this study was to conduct an accelerated vaccination program and to determine its efficacy in patients susceptible to hepatitis B virus (HBV) receiving chemotherapy because of their hematologic malignancies.MethodsOver a one-year period, a total of 327 patients who were diagnosed as having a hematologic malignancy were serologically analyzed in terms of HBV infection. Of those found to be susceptible to HBV infection, a total of 42 patients consisting of 16 females and 26 males were enrolled in the accelerated vaccination program. All the patients were administered a 20-μg yeast-derived recombinant hepatitis B vaccine on days 0, 14, and 28. Anti-HBs titers above 10 IU/l at 1 and 3 months after the final dose were accepted as protective.ResultsA total of 146 (44.6%) patients were susceptible to HBV, while 13 (4.0%) were carriers, 28 (8.6%) were vaccinated, and 113 (34.5%) had had a previous HBV infection. A total of 42 patients (16 females and 26 males, mean age 34.5 ± 10.9 years) were enrolled in the vaccination program. Overall, 23.8% (10/42) of the patients in the program had developed anti-HBs at one month after the last vaccination.ConclusionsPoor results obtained by different vaccination programs suggest the need for alternative strategies to prevent the disease.