Accelerated Loss of Antibody to Hepatitis B Surface Antigen among Immunodeficient Homosexual Men Infected with HIV

Abstract
To the Editor: Hadler et al. (July 24 issue)1 reported that 15 percent of subjects who were successfully immunized with hepatitis B vaccine lost antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) during the five-year period after immunization. In another 27 percent of vaccinated subjects, anti-HBs levels, measured by radioimmunoassay,1 fell to less than 10 sample ratio units (SRU) over negative control,1 the minimal level usually considered necessary for reliable protection. The vaccine trials were initiated in 1978 among homosexual men from San Francisco, Denver, and Chicago and undoubtedly included subjects who became infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, also known . . .