Stephenne J
Vaccines Research & Development, Smith Kline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium.
Vaccine. 1988 Aug;6(4):299-303. doi: 10.1016/0264-410x(88)90173-9.
Any attempt to reduce the incidence of hepatitis B on a worldwide scale requires the availability of large quantities of potent, safe and affordable hepatitis B vaccine. However, ongoing doubts or concerns--justified or not--persist about the comparative safety, immunogenicity and cost-effectiveness of commercially available hepatitis B vaccines, whether derived from plasma or produced via recombinant expression systems. This review compares plasma versus recombinant hepatitis B vaccines in terms of these alleged differences and in the light of increasing clinical data acquired following administration of recombinant yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccines.
