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Hepatitis A - Advice on Prioritising Available Vaccine

14 July 2017

As the current global shortage of hepatitis A vaccine continues, at TRAVAX we are aware that practitioners are becoming confused when trying to advise departing and returning travellers on priming and boosting doses of vaccine. The temporary dose sparing advice to preserve adult monovalent hepatitis A vaccine stock for use in those with the greatest ability to benefit, has resulted in various other options being recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). These include “off label” use of other formulations of hepatitis A vaccine, the advice around which may also change depending on product availability.

To help practitioners decide which of the various formulations of hepatitis A vaccine to use in their travellers, Public Health England (PHE) have today published additional information, as part of their Hepatitis A Infection: Prevention and Control Guidance.

Whilst the advice is not absolute and practitioners are encouraged to apply their own clinical judgement in each individual situation, the tables contained within the PHE document are very useful as a guide. In particular:

  • Table 3 (page 7) – detailing pre-exposure dose-sparing options for hepatitis A vaccination in adults travelling overseas (includes order of preference)
  • Table 5 (page 9) - detailing vaccine options for boosting primed (adult) patients

The guidance can be accessed at Hepatitis A: temporary adult immunisation recommendations.

TRAVAX continues to add to the Hepatitis A Vaccine Dose Sparing FAQs, so please visit this section regularly.