Do children with type 1 diabetes mellitus remain protected against hepatitis B?

Objectives: Because patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) have persistent and profound limitations in immune functions, immune response to vaccines may diminish. The aim of our study was to compare the antibody to Hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) serologies of children with T1DM, at the time of T1DM diagnosis, who were vaccinated according to the vaccination schedule with the anti-HBs serologies of healthy children. And to investigate the relationship between anti-HBs levels and the accompanying variables of these patients.

Methods: Anti-HBs and Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) results of 214 children with T1DM and 210 healthy children were recorded retrospectively. Seropositivity rates for anti-HBs were compared between T1DM and control groups and the odds of seropositivity were examined. Clinical and laboratory data of T1DM patients were investigated according to anti-HBs seropositivity.

Results: Anti-HBs seropositivity rates and titers in the T1DM group were significantly lower than those in the healthy group. According to anti-HBs status among T1DM patients; no difference was found in terms of gender, BMI, presence of comorbidities, presence of autoantibodies and lipid profiles. Diagnosis age and HbA1c levels of anti-HBs negative group were higher than anti-HBs positive group in patients diagnosed with T1DM. However, neither age nor HbA1c level was found to significantly change the odds of the seropositivity for anti-HBs in T1DM patients after adjustment.

Conclusions: We recommend that children diagnosed with T1DM should have anti-HBs serology tested at the time of diagnosis and seronegative patients should have additional hepatitis B vaccination.