Dialysis | Transmission of hepatitis B

Dialysis

For people who are dependent on regular dialysis, there is a special vaccine with a higher concentration of active ingredients. This is due to the modified purification of the blood, which allows the antibodies formed against the virus to be reduced more quickly. Despite the increased concentration of active ingredient in the vaccine, the vaccine is well tolerated.

Vaccination can also be carried out with the conventional vaccine, but a different vaccination schedule is recommended. It is best to consult your doctor. As with every vaccinated person, people on dialysis are tested for antibody levels four to eight weeks after vaccination. This can be used to check whether the vaccination guarantees sufficient immunity. Persons undergoing dialysis are generally among those who have an increased risk of contracting hepatitis B. Vaccination is therefore recommended for these persons.

Is an infection possible despite vaccination?

The vaccination stimulates the production of antibodies in the body, which, upon contact with the hepatitis B virus, render it harmless. If sufficient antibodies are produced after vaccination, infection with this form of hepatitis is not possible. In rare cases, it is possible that not enough antibodies are produced.

In such cases, one speaks of so-called low responders (few antibodies were produced) or non-responders (no antibodies were produced). In this case, infection is theoretically possible. To prevent such cases, a titer control is always performed a few weeks after vaccination. The number of antibodies produced is checked and if there are too few antibodies, the vaccination is repeated.

What influence does the virus load have on transmission?

Viral load is the concentration of viruses in a body fluid, usually blood.It is expressed in IU (infectious units) per mL and is used as a measure of infectivity, i.e. the contagious potential of a fluid: The more virus particles there are in the blood, the greater the risk of infection. However, it should be added here that not all viruses from the same viral load onwards are infectious or cause a corresponding clinical picture. The hepatitis B virus is an example of a virus that can cause hepatitis even with very few virus particles, i.e. a low virus load. The necessary viral load is even lower here than with the HI virus, the hepatitis B virus is therefore highly infectious.