Are we giving too many doses of hepatitis A and B vaccines?

The immune response of an inactivated hepatitis A vaccine given to middle aged travellers 4-6 years after one single, primary, dose was recently studied. All 25 vaccinees showed an impressive anamnestic booster response (GMT 2.993 mIU/ml). The study confirms one previous report as well as experimental data, indicating a long-term proliferative T-cell response following one single primary dose of Havrix 1440. In 1999, Wistrom et al. demonstrated that a booster 4 years after priming medical students with one single dose of a recombinant HB vaccine disclosed a rapid antibody response indicating a well-preserved memory. These reports put in focus the question: are we routinely offering too many doses of hepatitis A and B vaccines? (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.