HepA

[ltlmrs]

My sister had HepA as a child and was hospitalized. Does anyone get the vax and why? If you don't get the vax, why?

We stopped vaxing Ladybug when she was 6 months old. Unfortunately, that's still a lot of vaccines! She's going to be going to her 2 yo check up soon and we're trying to determine if we're going to do any more vax or not... But, honestly looking at what she has and has not had, we have no interest in MMR/Varicella or really finishing up anything except maybe DTaP for the Tetanus (and we're not even sure about that,), but I do wonder about HepA because of my sister's experience.

Thoughts?

[NaturalBirthGoddes]

Hepatits A is the most benign of the group. There is no treatment for it, but rest. Have you researched the disease and then the vax? That is the best way to determine which you are more comfortable with. Research the side effects, the ingredients, etc. of the vax and compare with the side effects, etc. of the disease and see what you are most comfortable with.

[ltlmrs]

Originally Posted by NaturalBirthGoddes

Hepatits A is the most benign of the group. There is no treatment for it, but rest. Have you researched the disease and then the vax? That is the best way to determine which you are more comfortable with. Research the side effects, the ingredients, etc. of the vax and compare with the side effects, etc. of the disease and see what you are most comfortable with.

That's not my experience. My sister was I think 9 and very healthy when she had it and had severe liver damage that she still has to live with. She did not wear glasses before the hepA and immediately after she had to start wearing very high prescription glasses (i.e. it wasn't a gradual loss of vision) and still does. I now think that I had it at the same time she had it but since I was much younger it was probably very mild and not even diagnosed.

And I have been doing the research both about the disease and the vaccine. My original question was to get personal experiences of why mothers made the decision to either vax or not to vax their children for this particular disease.

[FernG]

We chose to skip Hep A specifically because it is usually so mild. Cases like your sister are rare. Catching it as a child = lifetime immunity. The vaccine is too new to know how long immunity lasts. Catching hep A as an adult increases the risk of complications. To us, the benefit of having a chance for natural immunity in childhood outweighed the risks of the disease.

[SwanMom]

I feel comfortable skipping it because the risks of catching it where we live are small. If we traveled or lived in a place where it were common, I would consider getting it. When I lived in Mexico, I had several students & a colleague who had it over the course of the year.

[JBaxter]

We will not be doing the Rotavirus, Hep A , PCV13, or Varicella Gardisil. We delay the DTaP till 12 months, HIB till after 15 months Not sure about the Polio or MMR sometime before 7yrs and HepB will be during teen years

The ones we skip are not one we feel the necessity to be vaccinated for. None are generally that serious for healthy kids.

[carriebft]

i also know of a few kids with Hep A liver damage or who had liver failure from Hep A-- 1 was 4 and the other two 6 and 9. I heard of their stories when I posted on a local board concerning Hep A vaccine and our constant back and forth on whether or not to do it.

Two of the three were travel related illness and since we travel to central america a lot...