Hepatitis B Vaccination Increases Survival of Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

This article first appeared on our sister website, HCPLive.

Hepatitis B virus infection can positively impact the survival of patients with chronic liver disease, according to a new study.¹

The hepatitis B vaccine has previously been successful in preventing hepatitis B virus infection. According to the Hepatitis B Foundation, the hepatitis B virus vaccination is the safest and most effective vaccine ever created.¹ A few studies demonstrated the vaccine’s success for chronic liver diseases.¹ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated chronic liver disease such as cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease and autoimmune hepatitis) are at a risk for hepatitis B.³

Led by Kaicen Wang of the Medical Faculty Mannheim Heidelberg University, the investigators examined the vaccination of patients with chronic hepatitis C, nonalcoholic liver disease, and liver cirrhosis.² Particularly, the investigators studied a large Columbia University cohort of 57306 patients from 2000 – 2020, the data collected from an Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics consortium. Nearly half of the patients (40.58%) had cirrhosis. Only 2.79% of the patients with chronic liver disease were vaccinated, leaving 97.21% of patients unvaccinated.

“As 97.21% (55706/57306) of the population were not reported as immunized, further efforts to improve the quality and comprehensiveness of medical records in chronic liver disease patients must be implemented,” the investigators wrote.

The investigators found patients with chronic liver disease vaccinated against hepatitis B virus had significantly greater survival than unvaccinated patients, no matter the gender (P = .000).

While when a patient had both hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C there was no effect on survival rate, the vaccination against hepatitis B virus benefited patients with chronic hepatitis C. Here, the vaccinated patients had a significantly improved survival rate (P = .000).

If a patient had hepatitis B virus and chronic nonalcoholic liver disease simultaneously, they had a worse survival rate. But patients with chronic nonalcoholic liver disease who are hepatitis B virus vaccinated had a better survival rate (P = .000, all; P = .0003, female; P = .007, male).

The team found patients with liver cirrhosis had a significantly improved survival (P = .000). Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic-induced cirrhosis received significant benefits from the hepatitis B virus vaccination (P = .000).

“Our work indicated that increased coverage of the universal [hepatitis B virus] vaccination programs is of the greatest importance, not only for patients with a high risk of hepatitis B infection but also for all patients with [chronic liver disease],” the investigators wrote.

References

1. Vaccine for Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B Foundation. https://www.hepb.org/prevention-and-diagnosis/vaccination/. Accessed November 21, 2023.
2. Wang, K, Itzel, T, Daza, J., et al. Benefits of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Vaccination in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases. AASLD The Liver Meeting. November 10 – 14, 2023. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://vepimg.b8cdn.com/uploads/vjfnew/9655/content/images/1699677182file-pbubc020231110-20-20-20aasld-20poster-20kaicen-20-20hepb-20vaccine-pdf1699677183.pdf. Accessed November 21, 2023.
3. Vaccination of Adults. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/vaccadults.htm. Accessed November 21, 2023.