IMMUNOGENICITY AND REACTOGENICITY OF A COMBINED HEPATITIS A B CANDIDATE VACCINE - FIRST RESULTS/

We evaluated immunogenicity and reactogenicity of an inactivated, comb ined hepatitis A/B candidate vaccine in 50 seronegative volunteers. Ea ch volunteer received a total of three doses of vaccine (720 EIU HAV a nd 20 mu g HBs antigen) according to a 0, 1 and 6 month vaccination sc hedule. One month after the first injection, the seroconversion rate w as 90% (45/50) for anti-HAV and 28% (14/50) for anti-HAVs, respectivel y. After the booster dose, at month 7, the seroconversion rate was as high as 100% (49/49) for anti-HAV and 94% (46/49) for anti-HBs. The ge ometric mean titres increased with each dose of vaccine administered. Mild, and mostly local side effects were reported in 54% of the volunt eers after the first injection and in less than 10% after the third in jection. Our results show that this inactivated, candidate hepatitis A /B vaccine is highly immunogenic and well-tolerated. (C) Munksgaard, 1 996.