APHA
Back to Annual Meeting Page
 		 
American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
 APHA 2005
 
3072.5: Monday, December 12, 2005 - Board 8

Abstract #100049

When we get a preventive vaccine, then what? Hepatitis B vaccination as a model and as a warning

Samuel R. Friedman, PhD1, Melissa Bolyard, PhD2, Carey Maslow, PhD2, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, PhD2, and Milagros Sandoval3. (1) Institute for AIDS Research, National Development and Research Institutes, 71 West 23d Street, 8th floor, New York, NY 10010, 212 845 4467, friedman@ndri.org, (2) National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI), 71 West 23rd St., 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010, (3) Institute for AIDS Research, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., 71 West 23rd St., 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010

Background: Vaccination campaigns often face opposition—e.g., in India and Nigeria for polio; and France for hepatitis B. Failures of public programming or access, and lack of interest, also limit uptake. Among USA gay men, only 9% have undergone hepatitis B vaccination.

Objectives: To describe induced immunization patterns for hepatitis B, and vaccine attitudes, in an HIV epicenter.

Methods: 465 subjects were interviewed and tested in Bushwick, a low-income minority section of Brooklyn, NY; a subset (101) was interviewed about vaccination attitudes.

Results: Among 137 youth < 25 years old (who were adolescents when adolescent immunization was recommended) who were unexposed to HBV, 53% have induced immunity. Among those 25+ years old, exposure rates and induced immunization rates among the unexposed are:
ExposedImmunized (of non-exposed)
MSM-IDUs63%18%
Non-MSM IDUs60%20%
Non-IDU MSM58%15%
Other sex partners of IDUs or MSM27%10%
Others5%9%

Attitudes: 25% of those interviewed about vaccine attitudes do NOT agree that vaccines are safe; 20% have heard of things like the Tuskegee syphilis study that make them hesitate to participate in vaccine programs.

Conclusions: Even in a community with widespread hepatitis and HIV epidemics, HBV immunization rates are 50% for youth, and less for high-risk older persons; and there are cultural bases for opposition to HIV vaccination. We need to develop effective vaccination delivery and, particularly, research on socio-cultural obstacles to vaccination so that HIV and other vaccines, if developed, reach enough people to have a public health effect.

Learning Objectives:

  • At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

    Keywords: HIV Interventions, Immunizations

    Presenting author's disclosure statement:

    I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

    HIV/AIDS: Contemporary Issues

    The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA