How much do I know about the hepatitis B vaccine?

The hepatitis B vaccine is a modern science that uses genetic engineering techniques to insert genetic fragments of the hepatitis B virus into the genes of yeast cells or hamster oocytes to reconstitute new genes and use the replication of these cells to produce a vaccine containing the hepatitis B virus fragments. A position paper on hepatitis B vaccines issued by the World Health Organization in 2009 was to state, “The various hepatitis B vaccine products available on the international market are generally considered to be immunologically equivalent and can be used interchangeably.” The book Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, prepared by the CDC, states in the chapter on hepatitis B: “Despite the different antigenic content of the vaccine, vaccines produced by different manufacturers can be used interchangeably, with the exception of the 2-dose procedure used for adolescents 11 to 15 years of age, which applies only to the Merck vaccine.” However, this 2-dose program for adolescents aged 11 to 15 years, produced by Merck in the United States, is not available in China. Regardless of which manufacturer produces the hepatitis B vaccine, they all contain the viral gene fragments that stimulate the body to produce antibody effects, and they all work the same way, so they can be used interchangeably. The poor immune response to hepatitis B vaccine in a small number of children may be related to the organism’s response to the vaccine and also to the antigenic structure of the vaccine. Therefore, some physicians believe that immunization success can be improved by switching to a high dose of Chinese hamster ovary cell (CHO) vaccine or hepatitis A and B vaccine combination for those with low or no response after immunization with recombinant yeast hepatitis B vaccine. Hepatitis B vaccine does not interact with other vaccines routinely used in children. Early studies in China have shown that there are no interfering effects between hepatitis B vaccine and BCG, Pepto vaccine, live trivalent mixed polio vaccine, and encephalitis B vaccine when immunized together, and there are also reports in foreign literature that simultaneous administration of combined hepatitis A and B vaccine, Pepto vaccine, measles vaccine, mumps vaccine, polio vaccine, and Haemophilus influenzae vaccine is safe and has no effect on immunization efficacy. The World Health Organization position paper on hepatitis B vaccine states, “Hepatitis B vaccine is available in both monovalent formulations and fixed-formula combination vaccines made with other vaccines (e.g., diphtheria vaccine, Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine, hepatitis A vaccine, and inactivated polio vaccine), and the immune response and safety of these combination vaccines are comparable to those of each vaccine component when used alone. Only monovalent hepatitis B vaccine is required at birth.” Therefore, in addition to the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth, it is also possible to switch to other combination vaccines containing hepatitis B vaccine components later.