Hepatitis B surface antigenemia following recombinant Engerix B hepatitis B vaccine in an 81-year-old ESRD patient on hemodialysis.

The first cases of transient hepatitis B surface antigenemia (HBsAg) in adults following hepatitis B virus (HBV) immunization were reported in the 1990s. HBV immunization is mandatory for all hemodialysis (HD) patients. Ly et al. who demonstrated transient HBsAg in eight out of nine HD patients following HBV vaccine concluded that HD patients should not be screened for HBV within a week of HBV immunization and that positive HBsAg within a month of HBV immunization must be interpreted with caution. We present an 81-year-old woman on HD, who needed a booster Recombivax (Merck, Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA) vaccine after remaining hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) negative from previous vaccinations. The HD Unit had switched to Engerix B (GlaxoSmithKline, Atlanta, GA, USA) HBV vaccine. Two days after the first Engerix B vaccine, HBsAg was detected. She was asymptomatic; ALT was 25 U/L. Repeat testing for HBsAg, HBsAb, hepatitis B E antigen (HB E Ag), and hepatitis B DNA (HB DNA), a week later, all returned negative. Previous reports of transient HBsAg following HBV vaccines were after Engerix B vaccination. Our patient is unusual since she had received both brands of HBV vaccines, sequentially, at different times. Twice, HBsAg tests completed as early as 5 days following Recombivax vaccine were negative. We submit that positive HBsAg tests are more likely following Engerix B vaccines. We reemphasize previous recommendations that patients should not be screened for HBsAg < 4 weeks following HBV immunization. This is particularly important in HD units where hepatitis B screening is carried out routinely all year round and hepatitis B vaccinations are commonplace. Very strict schedules must be adopted to avoid false positive HBsAg tests.