— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
A study of three U.S. needle-exchange programs finds that an
on-site, fast-track hepatitis B immunization dosing schedule may get
more injecting drug users protected against infection, according to a
report published in the August edition of BMC Public Health.
Many injecting drug users are at high risk of
this blood-borne infection, but they are notoriously hard to reach and
immunize. First, the hepatitis B vaccination requires three doses, the
second delivered 30 days after the first and the third delivered six
months later. Secondly, few users are willing to be screened and then
return to a clinic for vaccination, even when financial incentives are
offered; so researchers hope needle exchange sites could be effective
venues for immunizations.
This recent study followed drug users who used
needle exchange programs in Chicago and Hartford and Bridgeport, Conn.
When the usual vaccination schedule was used among 271 participants,
only 141 (52%) returned for the second and third doses.
However when an accelerated vaccination schedule
was used (second dose one month after the first and third dose two
months later instead of six months later) in 324 participants, 206
(63.6%) returned for all three doses.
Drug users who were older and frailer were more
likely to return for immunization. Researchers noted that vaccination
rates remain low among younger drug users. "Thus, special attention
should be paid to recruiting and retaining younger participants," they
wrote.
Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4138371/
http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ11.9.htm Labels: injection drug users, pwid, vaccination schedule
