Immunization status of thirty patients with sickle cell disease five years post hepatitis B vaccination. A comparison with normal controls.

In order for hepatitis B immunization programmes to be cost effective and clinically beneficial, vaccinated persons should maintain an immunity threshold titre of antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen greater than 10 IU/l. Those who fall below this level should be boosted in order to be covered against the risk for which the vaccine was administered. Persons with sickle cell disease are included in the group for whom hepatitis B immunization is routinely prescribed. Antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen was measured in paired sera of thirty patients with sickle cell disease compared with a control group of healthy medical staff, five years post vaccination. There was no significant difference between patients with sickle cell disease and normal controls in the levels of antibody maintained or numbers that required booster vaccination. Recommendations for the maintenance of protection via revaccination should be the same for persons with sickle cell disease as for healthy persons.