Comparison of the accelerated and standard vaccination schedules against hepatitis B in healthcare workers

BACKGROUND: For healthcare workers, sometimes the conventional hepatitis-B virus (HBV) vaccination schedule might not provide seroconversion rapidly enough. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of conventional HBV vaccination with an accelerated schedule (days 0–1–21). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial, 161 healthcare workers were divided into two vaccination groups; group A underwent the conventional schedule (0–1–6 months) and group B received the accelerated program (0–10–21 days) of hepatitis B virus vaccine. The anti-HBs antibody was determined 30 days after completion of the third vaccine injection in both groups by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (Abbot, Aux SYMsys). By using the Fisher’s exact and Wilcoxon tests, the results were analyzed. The protective level of anti-HBS was defined as titer ≥10 MIU/ml. RESULTS: The seroprotection rate, 30 days after vaccination, were similar in both groups A and B; 96.3% of the participants in group A and 92.6% in group B had anti-HBS antibody ≥10 MIU/ml. CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that compared to the classic HBS vaccination program an accelerated schedule could also be effective and achieve seroprotection more rapidly.