Comparison of hepatitis B surface antibody decay rates after vaccination between hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients

Background and objectivesThe available information about maintaining effective immunity after hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination in dialysis patients is limited. The aim of this study was to determine whether a difference exists in the persistence of immunity between hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. We compared the decay rate of hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) titers after HBV vaccination between HD and PD patients.Design, setting, participants, and measuresA total of 103 HD and 53 PD patients who were completely vaccinated were enrolled. We examined their anti-HBs titers at the 1st month after vaccination then annually thereafter. Changes in the anti-HBs titers were assessed by comparing annual geometric mean titers (GMTs).ResultsThe slopes of the anti-HBs titer decay rates plotted on a logarithmic scale for the HD and PD groups were −23.41 and −31.48, respectively. The decay rate of the PD group was significantly faster than that of the HD group (P = 0.0053).ConclusionThe decay rate of anti-HBs titers in the PD group was faster than that in the HD group. Hepatitis B vaccination could not offer long-term protection in HD or PD patients. Post-vaccination testing every 6–12 months is necessary and revaccination may be protective in dialysis patients, especially in hyper-endemic areas of hepatitis B infection.