A comparison of two commercial recombinant vaccines for hepatitis B in adolescents

The immunogenicity and reactogenicity profiles of three doses each of Engerix-B® (10 μg hepatitis B surface antigen) and Recombivax® (5 μg hepatitis B surface antigen), given on a 0, 1, 6 month schedule to healthy adolescents were compared in a single-blind, randomized clinical trial. One month following the third dose, seroprotection rates after Engerix-B and Recombivax were similar (99 and 98%, respectively). The geometric mean titre (GMT) was statistically significantly higher following vaccination with Engerix-B (3961 vs. 1001 mIU/ml; P=0.0001, Fisher's exact test). Most of the symptoms reported were mild or moderate in intensity and transient. There were no vaccine-related serious adverse events.