Talk to me about the Hep B vax please.

[lilsparrow]

A friend of mine is pregnant and she feels that her baby should get the Hep B vaccine because she read that 2000-4000 people die every year from Hep B and that it is highly infectious. I did not get the vax for my baby, but it was so long ago I forgot my stats and stuff. Can you help?

This is her basis for her decision :

"Hepatitis B is highly infectious. An estimated 800,000 to 1.4 million people in the United States have the virus, and 20 to 30 percent of them acquired the disease in childhood. Many of them never feel sick and don't know they have it, but those who become infected as children are more likely to have long-term health problems such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. About 2,000 to 4,000 Americans die from hepatitis B-related illness every year."

[katelove]

Is she aware that it requires contact with infected bodily fluid to become infected? It sounds like she is reading that quote and thinking you can catch it like the 'flu.

As long as she and her partner are not infected and do not engage in high risk behaviours or live in a high risk community then the chances of an infant contracting Hep B are very small.

Some people choose to have their children vaccinated as they do not know what their lifestyle choices will be as adults but, even in that case, it would not need to be given at birth.

I would be inclined to talk with her about the fact that to get Hep B you need to have unprotected sex or share a needle or get a tatoo or piercing at an unhygenic place or something like that. Or be a non-immune health care worker, although that is lower risk than the former activities. If she knows all that and still thinks her baby is at risk then she's probably going to get him/her vaccinated regardless.

[Cavy]

This site is interesting -- it comes across as balanced, but also talks at length about what kind of people are most at risk for contrcting Hepatitis B -- obviously a relatively select group of people, and certainly not babies or children:

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/hepb/qandavax.asp

I'm generally happy for DC to get most Vaxx, but this one kind of scares me, some of the anecdotal evidence of adverse reactions is awfully scary.

[Marnica]

Unless your friend has tested positive, there is no reason to get this vaccine.
Babies genarlly do not enagage in high risk behaviors mentioned above. If your friend is worried about her child as a teen, then she can get it for her at that point. To expose a hours old newborn the the toxic brew of the hep B vax for no good reason (except a hep B positive mother) is madness IMO.

[Sheri Nakken]

Hepatitis B Disease and Vaccine Facts

http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-dis...sevaccine.aspx
Hepatitis B Disease and Vaccine Facts

http://www.nvic.org/Vaccines-and-Dis...patitis-B.aspx
http://www.wellwithin1.com/hepatitisb.htm


http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/09/b...cine.html#more
Blockbuster Primate Study Shows Significant Harm from One Birth Dose of a Mercury-Containing Vaccine

Ground-Breaking Monkey Study: Mercury-Containing Hepatitis B Vaccine Causes Brain Damage
http://www.safeminds.org/news/wakefi...B-vaccine.html

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by lilsparrow

A friend of mine is pregnant and she feels that her baby should get the Hep B vaccine because she read that 2000-4000 people die every year from Hep B and that it is highly infectious. I did not get the vax for my baby, but it was so long ago I forgot my stats and stuff. Can you help?

This is her basis for her decision :

"Hepatitis B is highly infectious. An estimated 800,000 to 1.4 million people in the United States have the virus, and 20 to 30 percent of them acquired the disease in childhood. Many of them never feel sick and don't know they have it, but those who become infected as children are more likely to have long-term health problems such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. About 2,000 to 4,000 Americans die from hepatitis B-related illness every year."

Is she worried about the 20-30% rate for children? Could you ask her to research how those children acquired it? Does she or her partner have it?

I thought you could only get it from blood contact...primarily through sharing needles/sex. They couldn't effectively get an adult program rolling so they decided to make it mandatory for infants.

Of course, she also needs to research how long the vaccine immunity lasts. When her child becomes a teen/adult, will he be protected? Or at risk right when he might be doing risky things?