Hepatitis B Immune Globulin in Prevention of Hepatitis B among Hospital Staff Members

In a double-blind trial of hospital staff members at risk of contracting hepatitis B, 110 subjects received hepatitis B immune globulin or immune serum globulin prophylactically. An additional 125 individuals working in the same locations were unwilling to participate in the trial and received no prophylaxis. During the study period of 28 months, 13 cases of clinical hepatitis B occurred in the untreated group, whereas only three cases occurred among the subjects who received prophylaxis. In a hemodialysis center at Sahlgren's Hospital, Gateborg, Sweden, the annual attack rate of clinical hepatitis B among staff members was 5%-8% (12-19 cases per year) during the period 1968-1972 despite considerable hygienic measures to decrease the incidence of infection.