Abstract
Background & Objectives: hepatitis B is a major health problem in Iran. Although seroconversion in vaccinated persons is estimated to be more than 90%, immune response to hepatitis B vaccine have been reported to be varied in different studies. This study was done to assess the vaccine effects in health care workers (HCWs).
Materials and Methods: I this descriptive, cross sectional study, HBSAb titer in 138 HBCAb negative, vaccinated HCWs in 10 health care centers was assessed using ELISA method. Of 138 HCWs, 60.1% were females and 39.9 males.
Results: 69.9% developed protective immune response. Age was a significant factor in responsiveness. Sex, weight, and last vaccination time had no significant role.
Discussion: In our study, rate of immune response to hepatitis B was low. Thus, revaccination may be necessary for nonresponders. We suggest that cost-effectiveness of the Heberbiovac HB vaccine should be re-evaluated in high risk groups.
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© 2003, Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. This open-access article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0) International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which allows for the copying and redistribution of the material only for noncommercial purposes, provided that the original work is properly cited.