The RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine contains the hepatitis B virus surface antigen and so has the potential to act as a hepatitis B vaccine. To assess the effectiveness of RTS,S/AS01E in the Expanded Program of Immunization, infants aged 8–12 weeks were randomly assigned to receive either RTS,S/AS01E or a licenced hepatitis B control vaccine (HepB), both co-administered with various combinations of the following childhood vaccines: diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-Haemophilus influenzae type b, trivalent oral. The long-term persistence of antibodies against the circumsporozoite (CS) protein and the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), as well as the immunological memory response to the HB antigen following a booster dose of HepB vaccination, were investigated. One month after HepB booster vaccination, 100% of RTS,S participants and 98.3% of control participants had anti-HBs antibody concentrations of 10 mIU/mL, with geometric mean values of 46634.7 mIU/mL and 9258.2 mIU/mL, respectively. Anti-CS antibody GMCs ranged from 2.3 EU/mL to 2.7 EU/mL in the RTS,S groups 48 months after initial immunisation, compared to 1.1 EU/mL in the control groups.
Hepatitis B priming with the RTS,S/AS01E vaccination was efficient and resulted in a memory response to HBsAg, as seen by the robust booster response after another dose of HepB vaccine. RTS,S/AS01E exhibited an acceptable safety profile when co-administered with PHiD-CV, HRV, and other paediatric vaccinations.
Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2019.1695457
