FAILURE OF PASSIVELY ADMINISTERED ANTIBODY TO HEPATITIS-B SURFACE-ANTIGEN TO AUGMENT THE IMMUNE-RESPONSE OF A LOW-RESPONDER POPULATION TO HEPATITIS-B VACCINATION

Sixteen renal dialysis patients with documented failure to respond to hepatitis B vaccination in the past were administered passive antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) 2 weeks prior to revaccinat ion in an attempt to augment their response to the vaccine. Although 1 5/16 patients were seropositive for anti-HBs at 1, 3, and/or 6 months following vaccine boost, only 2/13 (15%) remained positive at 12 month s, suggesting that the positive findings in the remaining individuals were a result of either passively acquired anti-HBs and/or an active b ut transient response to the vaccine. As response rates of approximate ly 5-30% have been reported previously in this population with a vacci ne boost in the absence of pre-vaccine passive immunoprophylaxis, thes e results do not support the use of combined passive/active immunoprop hylaxis to augment the immune response to HBV vaccine in low-responder groups.