Nonresponse to hepatitis B vaccines and the kinetics of anti-HBs production.

No empirical data are available for the anti-HBs title required for protection against infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), but nonresponders to hepatitis B vaccines remain susceptible to infection. There may be an unexplained qualitative difference between hyporesponders and true nonresponders, but there is a clear association with HLA haplotypes. There is no evidence for silent infection with HBV in nonresponders.