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Jules L. Dienstag, MD; Barbara G. Werner, PhD; Mary F. McLane; David R. Snydman, MD; George F. Grady, MD; Donald E. Craven, MD; Clyde S. Crumpacker, MD; B. Frank Polk, MD; Richard Platt, MD; Jonathan Allan, DVM; Max Essex, DVM, PhD

JAMA. 1985;254(8):1064-1066.

Abstract
A proportion of the plasma for the triply inactivated, plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine produced in the United States is obtained from homosexual men. Because homosexual men are a high-risk group for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), concern has emerged that the vaccine could harbor the AIDS agent. To evaluate this risk, we tested 15-month postvaccination serum samples for antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III in 100 health care workers who had received inactivated hepatitis B vaccine lots made from plasma collected between 1977 and 1979 and 100 who had received placebo injections. None of the 200 health workers had serological evidence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III infection. These serological findings lend additional support to earlier epidemiologic and immunologic observations suggesting that hepatitis B vaccine does not transmit infection with an AIDS virus.

(JAMA 1985;254:1064-1066)

Author Affiliations
From the Boston Inter-Hospital Hepatitis B Vaccine Study Group (Medical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital [Dr Dienstag]; State Laboratory Institute, Department of Public Health, Commonwealth of Massachusetts [Drs Werner, Snydman, and Grady]; Department of Medicine, Tufts—New England Medical Center [Dr Snydman]; Department of Medicine, Boston University Hospital [Dr Craven]; Department of Medicine, Boston City Hospital [Dr Craven]; Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital [Dr Crumpacker]; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital [Dr Polk]; Department of Medicine, New England Deaconess Hospital [Dr Platt]); and the Department of Cancer Biology, Harvard School of Public Health (Ms McLane and Drs Allan and Essex); Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School (Drs Dienstag, Crumpacker, Polk, and Platt); Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine (Drs Werner, Snydman, and Grady); and the Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine (Dr Craven), Boston. Dr Polk is currently with the School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to the Gastrointestinal Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114 (Dr Dienstag).

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