Patients with chronic HCV who do not respond to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine should undergo revaccination after HCV treatment and eradication, according to a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Jesse Powell, PA-C, MS, and colleagues examined whether HBV revaccination after HCV treatment improved response. The study recruited previous non-responders for revaccination after HCV eradication. Among patients who underwent follow-up hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) testing 1 month after vaccine series completion, 67.7% produced a reactive HBsAb, 25.8% were nonreactive, and 6.5% had equivocal results. Powell and colleagues noted no significant differences in HBsAb reactivity according to age, sex, race, or presence of advanced fibrosis. “This study has broad implications for public health in hepatitis-infected individuals,” a coauthor said in a statement. “It is known that the hepatitis B vaccine is not as effective in those with hepatitis C. What was not known until now is that, after treating hepatitis C, the hepatitis B vaccine seems to be more effective in this population.”
