Effect of tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine on immune response to hepatitis B vaccine in healthy individuals with insufficient immune response

Background: hepatitis b virus (hbv) fails to produce appropriate immune responses in some healthy individuals; thus,different strategies have been adopted to promote immune responses. the current study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of hbv vaccine coadministered with tetanus-diphtheria (td) vaccine compared with hbv vaccine in healthy individuals through measuring hepatitis b surface antibody (hbsab) levels. materials and methods: this was a randomized controlled clinical trial,which was implemented in isfahan,isfahan province (iran) in 2013. one hundred and forty healthy individuals,whose hbsab titers were less than 10 iu/l were recruited. the subjects were randomly assigned to either in intervention or control trials. the control group received 40 μg of recombinant hbv vaccines intramuscularly injected at 0,1,and 6 months; however,the intervention group was simultaneously vaccinated by td with the first dose of hbv vaccine. hbv antibody levels (titer) were measured before the vaccination and 6 months after the last vaccination. results: antibody titers of the subjects in the intervention and control groups increased from 5.07 ± 2.9 iu/l to 744.45 ± 353.07 iu/l and from 4.45 ± 3.4 iu/l to 589.94 ± 353 iu/l,respectively (both p < 0.001). also,the mean difference of antibody titer was significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.011). conclusion: td vaccination can be applied as a feasible approach to promote efficient and persistent immunity in healthy individuals with insufficient hbsab titers. © 2015 journal of research in medical sciences.