Tell me about the Hep A vax

[organicpapayamama]

DS dr is pushing the hep A vax... originally I chose to put it off. I did all the research on it and everything and now I cant find my notes. Please refresh my memories with as much info as you have including side effects and ingredients please. thanks.

[rainashine]

Hep A is one that has some kind of human tissue (I don't have my note in front of me either) and it is an extremely mild disease in a child. It usually passes like a 24 hour tummy bug. The only risk is dehydration. In adults, it can last a couple weeks and is nastier but there is no risk of long term damage from the disease. Adults still make a full recovery.

Hep B has a chronic phase some can get but Hep A does not.

[Marnica]

Have you asked your doctor why he feels this vaccine is necessary? I'd be curious as to his answer.

Here is the insert for the hep A vax

http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_havrix.pdf

this vaccine contains aluminum, formalin, antibiotics, polysorbate 20, and "residual" MRC-5 proteins (derived from aborted fetal tissue)

About the disease

Hepatitis A infection causes no clinical signs and symptoms in over 90% of these children and since the infection confers lifelong immunity, the disease is of no special significance to the indigenous population. In Europe, the United States and other industrialized countries, on the other hand, the infection is contracted primarily by susceptible young adults, most of whom are infected with the virus during trips to countries with a high incidence of the disease.[3] Following infection, the immune system makes antibodies against HAV that confer immunity against future infection.

[majormajor]

hep A can be fatal in adults but really is mild to asymptomatic in children. we do almost all vaxes but skip this one. it's a very safe vaccine, though--i also didn't save any notes but i remember that it has one of the lowest reaction rates. my problem with it is that they really recommend vaxing to protect older people, who can actually (albeit rarely) die from the infection. i philosophically object to that--older people can vaccinate themselves if they want protection.

my pedi also recommends skipping it, so we have only support from our doc on that one. (she also thinks vaxing babies against hep B is silly too unless there's an infected person in the house. i really like her!). however, she does recommend hep A if you're traveling somewhere where it's common.

sorry i can't be more specific!

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by majormajor

hep A can be fatal in adults but really is mild to asymptomatic in children. we do almost all vaxes but skip this one. it's a very safe vaccine, though--i also didn't save any notes but i remember that it has one of the lowest reaction rates. my problem with it is that they really recommend vaxing to protect older people, who can actually (albeit rarely) die from the infection. i philosophically object to that--older people can vaccinate themselves if they want protection.

my pedi also recommends skipping it, so we have only support from our doc on that one. (she also thinks vaxing babies against hep B is silly too unless there's an infected person in the house. i really like her!). however, she does recommend hep A if you're traveling somewhere where it's common.

sorry i can't be more specific!

http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/fin...adsheet+format

Keep in mind this is probably only about 1-10% of reported reactions.

[organicpapayamama]

Originally Posted by majormajor

hep A can be fatal in adults but really is mild to asymptomatic in children. we do almost all vaxes but skip this one. it's a very safe vaccine, though--i also didn't save any notes but i remember that it has one of the lowest reaction rates. my problem with it is that they really recommend vaxing to protect older people, who can actually (albeit rarely) die from the infection. i philosophically object to that--older people can vaccinate themselves if they want protection.

my pedi also recommends skipping it, so we have only support from our doc on that one. (she also thinks vaxing babies against hep B is silly too unless there's an infected person in the house. i really like her!). however, she does recommend hep A if you're traveling somewhere where it's common.

sorry i can't be more specific!

long story short DS dr is an idiot and Im in the process of switching but she was pushing heb b sooooooo much it wasnt even funny. I flat out refused it at least a dozen times. I too thought it was silly and told her my reasons behind it and in short she told me I was wrong, I asked how and she never answered me...any dr that tells me hep B is not an std needs to go back to school... at any rate, that is why she is just a vax pusher in general and Im her first client to question any vaccine and refuse some and delay others. She and her staff were very surprised.......I hope I start a new trend in that office that mothers and fathers will research what they are injecting into their kids and not just do it because there is a "schedule" and its always been done that way.

[majormajor]

i never understood the drive to seek out drs who actively support selective or delayed vax, but after having our current dr, i do now. she asked me when DD2 was six mos "so, you don't want the flu shot, do you?" all the while shaking her head no. i had to laugh. i really trust her and said i would if she thought it was important, but she said no, DD was really healthy and she didn't think she needed it. DD1 did get the flu vax at 6 mos (had a different dr), but she had been really sick at 12 days old (hospitalized for 3 days) and we weren't sure if her immune system was weak or something.

i just found out yesterday that our dr left the practice though. so, we'll see what happens when i take DD for her 1 yr next month. i was going to skip hep A (well, do it later anyway if she needs it for school) and delay varicella, i wonder if i'm gonna get flak for that now! we are doing MMR because we'll be in europe for a month this summer, and they have a lot of measles where we're going.

good luck finding a new dr.

[tessie]

Here in the UK it's only usually recommended if travelling to an area where it's common. Doesn't it only last a limited number of years anyway? I'm sure it does as I've had the vax more than once, I think. (No reaction, fwiw.)

[newmum35]

Originally Posted by majormajor

hep A can be fatal in adults but really is mild to asymptomatic in children. we do almost all vaxes but skip this one. it's a very safe vaccine, though--i also didn't save any notes but i remember that it has one of the lowest reaction rates.

That's odd, because I read the manufacturers insert (given to me at my ped office) and it said there was a 1 in 100 rate of seizures. 1% of 1 year old have this reaction to the shot!! This is a high reaction rate! I quickly ruled that one out!! Dr Sears book also explains about Hep A for a beginner to understand that is not a deadly disease!!

I'll double check that insert within a few days- I still have it, and try to find (its all fine print!) the part about the side effects!