Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) vaccinated for hepatitis B have a low success rate in achieving protective antibody levels. The main factors suggested for this are IBD itself and the use of immunosuppressive drugs.
To evaluate the concentration of anti-HBs antibodies and to verify factors associated with the effectiveness of hepatitis B vaccination in patients with IBD.
This is a prospective, consecutive, observational, descriptive and analytical, non-randomized, qualitative study that evaluated the levels of anti-HBs antibodies in IBD patients at the Interdisciplinary Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic of the Family and Community Health Unit of UNIVALI – Itajaí, Santa Catarina.
Thirty-six patients were vaccinated against hepatitis B virus (HBV), of which 29 were female. The average age was 46.2 years. Regarding the type of IBD, twenty-four patients had Crohn’s disease and the duration of inflammatory bowel disease was 74 months. Fifteen patients were on concomitant immunosuppressive therapy. The effective response rate to HBV vaccine was 72.2%, verified by anti-HBs titration ≥10 UI/L. Statistical analysis revealed a negative response to vaccination in patients with Crohn’s disease and immunosuppressive drugs.
The success rate of HBV immunization in IBD patients is low compared to the general population. Type of disease and use of immunosuppressive drugs appear to influence the vaccine response.