The GMR editorial staff was alerted and after a thorough investigation, there is strong reason to believe that the peer review process was failure. Also, after review and contacting the authors, the editors of Genetics and Molecular Research decided to retract this article in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The authors and their institutions were advised of this serious breach of ethics.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of combined immunization of hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) and hepatitis B vaccine (HBVac) in blocking father-infant transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Newborns positive at birth for blood HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and/or HBV DNA were selected and immunized with HBIG combination HBVac. At 7 months, HBV markers and HBV DNA of each neonate were measured using electrochemiluminescence with the Cobas-e-411 Automatic Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay Analyzer and fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Among all 7-month-old subjects, the negative conversion rates of HBV DNA and HBsAg were 48/61 (78.7%) and 19/41 (46.3%), respectively. Therefore, this study demonstrated that prompt combination L.-H. Cao et al. 4652©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 14 (2): 4651-4657 (2015) injection of HBIG and HBVac can protect some of the HBV DNA-and/ or HBsAg-positive newborns from HBV.