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Researchers from the University of
Washington and Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, conducted a
prospective interventional study to investigate the response of adults with HIV
to hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination. The 603 participants were members of
the partners’ pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) study, and 310 of them had HIV
infection. Participants were screened for HBV, and those who were found to be
susceptible received HBV vaccine.
Six months after receiving the
vaccine, 111 of the participants (35.8 percent) with HIV infection did not have
protective HBV surface antibody titers compared to 42 (14.3 percent) of the 293
patients without HIV. A multivariate analysis of the participants with HIV
indicated that sex and CD4 counts were associated with nonresponse. Men and
participants with CD4 counts lower than 500 cells/mcL were more likely to be
nonresponders.
When 102 nonresponders with HIV
infection were revaccinated, 72 of them developed a positive antibody response
after the first dose and 16 developed antibody response after the third dose.
This resulted in a cumulative response of 64.2 percent among participants with
HIV after the initial series, 89 percent after the first revaccination dose,
and 94.9 percent after the complete revaccination. Nonresponse after
revaccination was associated with low BMI, HIV-1 RNA of more than 50,000
copies/mL at baseline, and longer time to revaccination.
Data show that adults in Kenya had
similar response to HBV vaccine as patients from developed countries. The
researchers suggest that the results may help guide policy on best practices
for revaccinating persons with HIV-1 infection who do not respond to the HBV
vaccine schedule
The study, “Immune Response to
Hepatitis B Virus Vaccination Among HIV-1 Infected and Uninfected Adults in
Kenya,” was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases (2013; 207 (3):
402–410).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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