ABSTRACT
In order to optimize the employment of financial resources to be allocated for hepatitis B vaccination programs involving health care workers, two different aspects were studied: the need of a pre-vaccination screening and the efficacy of low-doses schedules of HBV vaccine by the intradermal (ID) route. The economical analysis (a cost-minimization study) showed that when the prevalence of immune individuals is higher than 11 per cent it is more cost-effective to perform pre-vaccination screening. This situation was observed in the employees group. For students and doctors vaccination without screening was the best approach. Regarding the schedules, 3 doses of HBV vaccine by the intramuscular (IM) route (group A) were compared to first dose by the ID route and second and third doses by the IM route (group B) and to first and second doses by the ID route and the last dose by the IM route (group C). After the third dose, soroconversion rates in groups A and B (92 per cent and 93 per cent, respectively) and geometric mean titers of antiHBs (1278 UI/L and 789.6 UI/L) were similar, and both were different from group A (p < 0.05), showing that alternative vaccination schedules may be cost-effective.