Development of DTH skin reaction to HBsAg in individuals immunized with HB vaccine.

To examine the temporal relationship between the DTH skin reaction to HBsAg and antibody response to HBsAg, serial skin tests for HBsAg were carried out on seven individuals immunized with HB vaccine. All cases developed both a skin reaction and antibody response. In many cases, the DTH skin reaction appeared four weeks before the antibody response. These data suggest that DTH skin reaction may be a more sensitive method than humoral antibody assessment for monitoring the success of vaccination.