Vaccine

There is an effective vaccine against the hepatitis B virus, which is recommended for people at high risk of exposure, including gay men, injecting drug users, health care workers and sex partners and household contacts of people infected with the virus. However, only a small proportion of HIV-positive individuals currently are vaccinated against hepatitis B.1

The vaccine is safe for people with HIV, although compared with HIV-negative people, a higher proportion of HIV-positive people may not develop protective immunity against hepatitis B virus following vaccination, and those who are successfully immunised may be more likely to lose their immunity over time. The United Kingdom currently only targets high risk groups for vaccination, but the Foundation for Liver Research has recommended that the government should meet the demands of the World Health Organization and introduce universal hepatitis B vaccination for infants, as is done in the United States and several European countries.

References

  1. Tedaldi EM et al. Hepatitis A and B vaccination practices for ambulatory patients infected with HIV. Clin Infect Dis 38: 1483-1489, 2004
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