Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2022; 28(31): 4249-4262
Published online Aug 21, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i31.4249
Insights into induction of the immune response by the hepatitis B vaccine
Federico Alejandro Di Lello, Alfredo Pedro Martínez, Diego Martín Flichman
Federico Alejandro Di Lello, Microbiology, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Bacteriología y Virología Molecular, Buenos Aires C1113AAD, Argentina
Federico Alejandro Di Lello, Diego Martín Flichman, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina
Alfredo Pedro Martínez, Virology Section, Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas Norberto Quirno “CEMIC”, Buenos Aires C1431FWO, Argentina
Diego Martín Flichman, Microbiology, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida, Buenos Aires C1121ABG, Argentina
Author contributions: Di Lello FA and Flichman DM contributed to the review concept, and designed and drafted the manuscript; Martínez AP contributed to critical revisions of the manuscript for important intellectual content and gave final approval of the version to be submitted.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Diego Martín Flichman, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Research Scientist, Microbiology, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida, Paraguay 2155, Buenos Aires C1121ABG, Argentina. dflichman@ffyb.uba.ar
Received: January 16, 2022
Peer-review started: January 16, 2022
First decision: May 10, 2022
Revised: May 21, 2022
Accepted: July 24, 2022
Article in press: July 24, 2022
Published online: August 21, 2022
Processing time: 212 Days and 9.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Second-generation vaccines induce the production of anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies (anti-HBs). Anti-HBs levels ≥ 10 mIU/mL prevent against infection. More than 90% of immunized persons achieve protective anti-HBs levels 1 mo after completing the three-dose vaccination schedule. Although antibody titers significantly drop during the 1st years after vaccination, memory immunity is sufficient to prevent infection regardless of the antibody levels. In some specific settings showing lower immune response rates, schemes with larger or additional doses and novel vaccine formulations are recommended.