Hep B Titer

[JLVARGAS74]

Hey everyone !!

So about 4 years ago i started A job in a hospital and they required me to get all my titers drawn! They said everything looked good and i started my position. Now i has to get them all drawn again for a new position and they said my hep B was negative and i would have to get all three shots again ! How would i drop Immunity I'm four years ?? Has anyone else had this problem?

[morte, LPN, LVN]

HBV FAQs for Health Professionals | Division of Viral Hepatitis | CDC

for some reason it won't allow me to copy and paste the relevant quote...it is at the end.

[UrbanHealthRN, BSN, RN]

Relevant quotes from the previous poster's website link:

"Studies indicate that immunologic memory remains intact for at least 30 years among healthy vaccinated individuals who initiated hepatitis B vaccination >6 months of age. The vaccine confers long-term protection against clinical illness and chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Cellular immunity appears to persist even though antibody levels might become low or decline below detectable levels. Among vaccinated cohorts who initiated hepatitis B vaccination at birth, long-term follow-up studies are ongoing to determine the duration of vaccine-induced immunity."

And:

"Can anti-HBs levels following vaccination decline over time?

Yes, anti-HBs levels following vaccination decline over time. Anti-HBs ≥10 mIU/mL is considered a correlate of vaccine-induced protection for persons who have completed an approved vaccination series. Immunocompetent persons who achieve an anti-HBs level ≥10 mIU/mL 1-2 months after a complete hepatitis B vaccine series remain protected, even if anti-HBs levels decline to

From :

"Should a healthcare professional who performs invasive procedures and who once had a positive anti-HBs result be revaccinated if the anti-HBs titer is rechecked and is less than 10 mIU/mL?

No. Immunocompetent people known to have responded to hepatitis B vaccination in the past do not require additional passive or active immunization. Postvaccination testing should be done 1-2 months after the original vaccine series is completed. In this scenario, the initial postvaccination testing showed that the healthcare professional was protected. Substantial evidence suggests that adults who respond to a 3-dose hepatitis B vaccine series (anti-HBs of at least 10 mIU/ mL) are protected from chronic HBV infection for at least 22 years, even if there is no detectable anti-HBs currently. Only immunocompromised people (for example, dialysis patients, some HIV-positive people) need to have anti-HBs testing performed periodically. Booster doses of vaccine to maintain their protective anti-HBs concentrations to at least 10 mIU/mL are recommended for dialysis patients and may be given to some HIV-positive patients."

Important food for thought, though at the end of day, employer policy often trumps the evidence base.