New Dosing Schedule for Combined Hepatitis Vaccine

New Dosing Schedule for Combined Hepatitis Vaccine

The FDA has approved an alternate accelerated dosing schedule for Twinrix, the combined hepatitis A and B vaccine, according to an MMWR article.

The original schedule consists of doses at 0, 1, and 6 months for people aged 18 and over. The new schedule is 0, 7, and 21-30 days, and a fourth dose at 1 year.

The first three doses of the new schedule provide protection equivalent to the first two doses of the original schedule. The new schedule is useful if travel or potential exposure is expected before the second dose (at 1 month) on the original schedule.

MMWR article (Free)

GlaxoSmithKline revised package insert (Free PDF)