Quantification of hepatitis B vaccine-induced antibodies as a predictor of anti-HBs persistence.

Hepatitis B vaccine-induced antibodies (anti-HBs) were quantified in 35 subjects (study group) and in an additional 24-59 subjects (controls) during a period of 82 months after vaccination against hepatitis B and the values used as a basis to develop a logarithmic formula to describe the post-booster antibody kinetics. The actual anti-HBs titres are shown to be proportional to the peak titre one month post-booster but inversely proportional to the number of months between the time of booster and of retesting. Using this model and an anti-HBs quantification more than a month post-booster, the individual persistence of vaccine-induced anti-HBs antibodies can be calculated.