Just one jab

[Amatullah0]

you know how most vaxxes you have to give more than one time for it to be effective? like, hepB, prevnar, polio, dtp, mmr, etc? what if you only offer the forst shot? (i.e. only one hepB shot instead of 3) does that offer any protection at all?

[Tee25]

Well I'm not sure if this relates to humans but maybe someone else can chime in.

But with animal vaccines, the reason why they do a puppy series of the same shots over and over is because the maternal antibodies are still present from birth and nursing, therefore the chance of the vaccine working the first time (of the pup seroconverting I believe) is small, but possible I believe. The second round of vaxes have a higher chance of stimulating the immune system than the first, and the third round, I believe, is in the 80-90% range of having a successful immune response. So technically if you waited until the pup was 6 months old (about the time the immune system was mature) one shot would really only be needed because most of the maternal antibodies would be gone by that time.

You could do a titer check after the first vaccine but I've read they can not be 100% reliable and are expensive to do. A second and third vax is much cheaper.

Anyone know if it's the same thing for humans? Assuming you think all vaccines are effective lol.

[mamamoon89]

Yes, it does offer some protection with one shot. It varies with different vaccines how much protection you get from one dose. With Hep B, after having had just one dose, you could get a blood test to see if you're immune. I don't know if this is possible with any other diseases.