Immunogenicity of Hepatitis B Vaccine in HIV Exposed Uninfected Infants

There is paucity of knowledge about the immunogenicity of vaccines in infants who have been exposed to HIV in-utero but have remained uninfected. The authors studied the immunogenicity of 3 doses of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine at 6,10,14 wk of age in HIV exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants. After 3 mo of last dose of the vaccine, out of 26 infants, 23 (89.5 %) infants were found to be responders (Anti HBs IgG titres ≥ 10 mIU/ml) and 3 (11.5 %) babies remained non responders (Anti HBs IgG titres < 10 mIU/ml). The proportion of babies who were non responders were higher when compared to similar studies done on unexposed and uninfected infants, suggesting a poorer immunogenicity of hepatitis B vaccine in these infants.