Liver Disease and Hepatitis Program, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and 2Arctic Investigations Program, Division of Emerging Infections and Surveillance Services, National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Anchorage, Alaska; 3Division of Viral Hepatitis, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia.
Background. The duration of protection in children and adults (including health care workers) resulting from the hepatitis B vaccine primary series is unknown. Methods. To determine the protection afforded by hepatitis B vaccine, Alaska Native persons who had received plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine when they were >6 months of age were tested for antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) 22 years later. Those with levels