This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Huey-Ling Chen, MD; Mei-Hwei Chang, MD
National Taiwan University Hospital Taipei

JAMA. 1996;276(22):1803.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.

—We are glad to know that the work of Dr Durand and colleagues confirms our results of hepatitis B seroepidemiology after a mass immunization program on populationbased samples of children 3 to 4 years of age. A hepatitis B vaccination program without administration of HBIG may yield good results in an area of lower maternal hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) seropositivity rate in HBsAg-carrier mothers. In a previous study, the efficacy of hepatitis B immunization increased from 75% with vaccination alone to 94% with addition of HBIG in infants born to HBeAg-seropositive, HBsAg carrier mothers.¹ The strategy of maternal screening and administration of HBIG may differ with consideration of HBeAg seropositivity rate and financial issues in different areas. However, a universal hepatitis B immunization program is recommended for all newborns in both high-rate and low-rate endemic areas to prevent HBV infection and its related diseases. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?