Hepatitis B vaccination in children with thalassemia in northern Greece.

Sera from 101 children with thalassemia, aged between 6 months to 15 years, were examined for detection of HBV infection. Of these 101 children, 18 negative for all HBV markers were vaccinated against HB with "Hevac B" vaccine from the Pasteur Institute. Our results show that 3 inocculations at one-month intervals have induced an excellent antibody (anti-HBs) response in all vaccinated children, affording full protection against HBV infection. There were no noticeable local or general reactions to "Hevac B" vaccine. Our results, in accordance with other reports, have revealed that hepatitis B vaccine is highly immunogenic for children with thalassemia and is particularly well tolerated.