Comparison of Two Recombinant Hepatitis B Vaccines

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important public health problem. Hepatitis B vaccine induces protective response in the majority of vaccinated persons. In our country, we do not have any evaluation for the efficacy of each type of vaccines used in adult and our objective was therefore to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines. In a randomized double-blind clinical trial 347 military personnel and their family in Kashan city, central Iran, were studied during August 2007 to April 2008. Participates who did not have history of HBV vaccination were included in this study. Five-mL blood samples were taken from each person and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) and total hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb). If the test results were negative, they were then divided into two groups and vaccinated with either recombinant Cuban or Korean vaccine. One month after the latest vaccine dose, we assessed the antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs Ab) titer. 347 subjects (207 men, 140 women) were studied. All participants were more than 15 years old. The mean±SD age of participants was 32.3±7.2 years. The mean±SD titer of anti-HBs Ab was 253.6±95.4 MIU/mL in Cuban group and 315.7±163.5 in Korean vaccine group (P<0.001). The Korean vaccine induced a higher titer of antibody in ages less than 40. Four (2.3%) subjects in the Cuban and 2 (1.1%) in the Korean vaccine group did not develop protection. The Korean vaccine induces more protection and higher titer in subjects aged less than 40 years than the Cuban vaccine. Therefore, we believe that the Korean hepatitis B vaccine is a better choice in comparison to the Cuban vaccine for prevention of hepatitis B virus infection and mass vaccination in our country.