Hepatitis A infections, usually transmitted via contaminated food, can cause debilitating illness, but protection afforded by the hepatitis A vaccine last more than a decade, a new study shows.
In fact, antibodies against hepatitis A virus persist for up to 27 years after vaccination, report investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage. Lead author Dr. Laura L. Hammitt, now at the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Welcome Trust Collaboration in Kilifi, and colleagues enrolled 144 children and 128 adults who responded to a three-shot series of hepatitis A vaccine to assess the persistence of antibodies. The adults had received a primary dose of hepatitis A vaccine, with a second vaccination given one month later and a third given 12 months after the first.