Rapid High Dose Vaccine Series: Increasing Immunity to Hepatitis B in Lung Transplant Candidates

There is growing use of increased risk donor organs that convey a higher risk of donor transmission of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV. Currently, Hepatitis B (HepB) is the only one of these three that is preventable through vaccination. We previously reported that immunity to HepB among lung transplant candidates at time of evaluation was only 23%, despite report of prior HepB vaccination in some cases. Although vaccine response rates among young, healthy individuals are approach 90%, rates among immunocompromised individuals are as low as 39%.

Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - March 31, 2018 Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: M.A. Bowen, A.B. Cochrane, L.N. Albergottie-Barnes, A. Brown Source Type: research