Vaccination against hepatitis B virus in children and adolescents in a pediatric hospital

Vaccination against hepatitis B has become compulsory in Italy and is routinely administered in outpatient clinics of Local Health Service. In the setting of a pediatric hospital 205 children (less than 10-year-old) and 144 adolescents (10-19-year-old) have been vaccinated with anti-HBV recombinant yeast-derived vaccine (Engerix B 10 U.I. at 0.1 and 6 months in children and 20 U.I. in adolescents). Anti-HBs titers were evaluated 1 month after least dose. Geometric mean titer (GMT) was 9500 mU/l in children and 18000 in adolescents; 99.85% of subjects had a protective anti-HBs titer (10 mU/l or more) at one month after the third dose and 89.1% had titers of 1000 mU/l or more. Only 9.7% of subjects had adverse events, mainly (75%) at the injection site, anyway of trivial importance, without any difference of sex and age. Anti-hepatitis B yeast-derived vaccine is highly immunogenic, without relevant adverse events; the hospital setting is appropriate to participate to the program of vaccination in pediatric age.