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Comparative immunogenicity of hepatitis B vaccine administered into the ventrogluteal area and anterolateral thigh in infants
Author(s) -
Cook IF,
Murtagh J
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1754.2002.00013.x
Subject(s) - medicine , titer , hepatitis b , regimen , immunogenicity , hepatitis b vaccine , booster dose , vaccination , seroconversion , antibody , gastroenterology , pediatrics , immunology , hepatitis b virus , hbsag , virus
Objective: To compare the immunological response of hepatitis B vaccine given by intramuscular injection into the anterolateral thigh and ventrogluteal site of infants up to 10 months old at initiation of vaccination. Methods: An open, randomized study of 200 healthy infants recruited from a single practice in a small regional town in New South Wales was carried out. Infants were vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix‐B 10 µg) using a 0 months, 1 month, 6 months regimen, with venous blood being collected from children 4−6 weeks after the last dose of vaccine for quantitative determination of hepatitis B surface antibody (anti‐HBs) titre. Infants with anti‐HBs titre ≥ 100mIU/mL were considered to be ‘good’ responders and were unlikely to acquire clinically significant hepatitis B infection. Infants with anti‐HBs titre < 100mIU/mL were considered to be ‘poor’ responders and were given a booster dose of Engerix‐B 20 µg; serology was repeated for anti‐HBs titre 2−3 months after this injection. Results: Quantitative anti‐HBs titre was obtained from 177 infants: 171 4−6 weeks after the last dose of vaccine; 87 at the ventrogluteal site (46 boys, 41 girls); and 84 at the anterolateral thigh site (38 boys, 46 girls). Good antibody response (anti‐HBs titre ≥ 100mIU/mL) was not significantly different for the two sites (ventrogluteal 96.6%, anterolateral thigh 93.2%), and antibody geometric mean titres (GMT) for anti‐HBs were comparable for the two sites (ventrogluteal 2071.2 ± 5.8mIU/mL, anterolateral thigh 2073.2 ± 5.2mIU/mL). Conclusion: The ventrogluteal and anterolateral thigh vaccination sites in infants are immunologically comparable for hepatitis B vaccine. Presumably the variance of this study with studies of adults reflected the uniform injection of vaccine antigen into muscle tissue in infants.