Prospective study of hepatitis B vaccination in patients with chronic hepatitis C: Table 1

Chronic hepatitis C results in liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Its prevalence is estimated to be 70-92% among intravenous drug misusers,1 who are also at risk of parenterally or sexually transmitted hepatitis B. Coinfection with hepatitis B virus may accelerate underlying liver damage due to hepatitis C.2 Effective vaccines against hepatitis B have been available for a decade.3 Universal vaccination is being adopted in countries where hepatitis B is common. When vaccination has been targeted at promiscuous people and intravenous drug misusers uptake has been suboptimal and the incidence of hepatitis B has increased.4 5 We therefore investigated whether carriers of hepatitis C were being vaccinated against hepatitis B. We prospectively studied 126 consecutive patients attending our hepatology clinic who had positive …