Comparison of Immunogenicity of Low-Dose Intradermal Hepatitis B Vaccine with the Standard-Dose Intramuscular Vaccination in Young Healthy Iranian Adults

Background and aims: although hepatitis b vaccine reliably induces immunity against hepatitis b virus (hbv), the costof intramuscular (1m) vaccination has limited its use, particularly in many developing countries. intradermal (10)vaccination has been proposed as a cost-saving alternative method for administration of hepatitis b vaccine. however,the effectiveness of 10 vaccination needs to be assessed in different ethnic groups.methods: from september 2006 to march 2008, 185 healthy anti-hbc-negative medical and nursing students atzahedan university of medical sciences who had no history of vaccination against hbv, smoking or hepatitis wereevaluated. they were randomly categorized into two groups. in group i (n=91), low-dose (4l(mu)m) recombinant hepatitisb vaccine (euvax b, korea) was given by intradermal route. in group ii (n=94), the standard dose (20 (mu)m) of the vaccinewas administered intramuscularly at 0,1, and 6 months. the groups were followed for a minimum of 7 months after thefirst vaccine dose and tested for anti-hbs titers by elisa (oiasorin bio medica kit, saluugia, italy).results: seroprotective anti-hbs titers (titer (greater than)10 miu/ml) were achieved in 79 (87%) students in group i and in 90(96%) in group ii (p=0.031). the difference was much pronounced when the two groups were compared for achievingan anti-hbs titer (greater than)300 miu/ml (p