THE RESPONSE TO HEPATITIS B VIRUS VACCINE IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS

Background – HBV infection is preventable by effective vaccination in general population, but response to vaccine among the HIV-infected people seems to be low. Methods – In this study, 48 HIV-positive patients who did not have a history of HBV infection received the conventional three-dose HBV vaccine (each dose: 20 μg) in HIV/STI/IDU Counseling and Care Center of Kermanshah Province, Iran. Anti-HBs levels were measured two months after the last dose. The sample gathering method was a random sample size. All the patients gave informed consent before entering the study. For statistical analysis, Chi-square test was performed and p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results – Only 14 (29.1%) of the 48 vaccinated HIV-infected patients had positive anti-HBs titers. Among them, 11 (78.6%) were males and 3 (21.4%) females. The mean number of CD4+ Tlymphocytes per milliliter of blood was 351.5 in responders and 283.9 in nonresponders. There was a significant difference between the response to vaccine and immunologic stages of HIV infection. There was a significant statistical difference regarding sex, as 42.5% of the females responded to vaccine while this rate was 24.9% among the males. Conclusion – The HIV-infected patients have a lower response rate to the conventional three-dose HBV vaccine compared with the general population and we recommend higher and more booster doses in early immunologic stages of HIV infection.