Most travelers do not need hepatitis booster
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A single course of hepatitis A and B vaccine is enough to protect most healthy travelers from contracting these infections, and current evidence suggests this protection is lifelong, a team of travel medicine experts concludes.
Hepatitis A and B are serious vaccine-preventable diseases. While the benefit of primary hepatitis A and B vaccination is well established, recommendations on the use of booster shots vary around the world, Dr. Jane N. Zuckerman of the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London and colleagues point out in the latest issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
In light of this variation, recent research-based recommendations were issued on the use of hepatitis A and B boosters. Both concluded that boosters are not necessary for immunocompetent individuals (i.e., those with healthy immune systems) who initially respond to hepatitis A and B vaccination.
In the current report, Zuckerman and her team reviewed these reports and other relevant, more recent literature to develop recommendations on vaccination specifically for travelers.
The researchers conclude: “Current evidence and recommendations suggest that, after completion of a primary vaccination course, the vast majority of travelers are protected for many years from both hepatitis A and B, with this protection most likely being lifelong.”
For immunocompromised travelers (i.e., those with weakened immune systems), they write, monitoring antibody levels remains necessary to determine if boosters are required.
The trend toward increased global travel is predicted to continue, the authors note, with the result that many more people are likely to be exposed to the risk of infection with either hepatitis A or B. To reduce this risk, “it is important that travelers receive appropriate and up-to-date travel health advice, as well as appropriate and timely vaccination,” Zuckerman and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: Clinical Infectious Diseases, October 1, 2005.
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