Hepatitis Vaccine and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Excerpt

To the editor: The source for the hepatitis B vaccine is derived from human serum that may have been obtained from homosexual men or drug addicts, groups at high risk for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (1). Although the vaccine is rendered noninfectious (2), there has been concern that a presumptive transmissible agent for the syndrome may withstand the preparative techniques. As yet, no vaccine recipients outside the high-risk group have developed the syndrome (2); to evaluate the presumed risk for the syndrome associated with the vaccine, we have formulated a decision analysis. We propose that, after the decision to