After receiving three doses of hepatitis B vaccine, people are protected against infection for at least 15 years, a new study shows. This finding argues against the need for booster doses of the vaccine.

Hepatitis B virus can be transmitted through unprotected sex, injection drug use and being exposed to infected blood. The infection can be chronic and lead to liver damage and cancer.

Previous reports have shown that hepatitis B vaccination provides protection for 10 years. However, the duration of protection beyond this period was unclear.

To investigate, Dr. Brian J. McMahon, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues reviewed data on 1578 Alaska Natives who were vaccinated at 6 months of age and older. Between 1981 and 1982, they received three doses of hepatitis B vaccine.

In all age groups, hepatitis B vaccination “strongly protected against infection for at least 15 years,” the authors report in the March 1st issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine

These findings argue against a need for booster doses of hepatitis B vaccine, Dr. Ding-Shinn Chen, from the National Taiwan University College of Medicine in Taipei, contends. “Unless continued follow-up and surveillance show clinically significant rates of infection in adolescents or adults who were vaccinated as children, booster vaccinations will be wasteful,” Chen writes in a perspective piece in the journal.

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, March 1, 2005.