Hep b - Page 3

[prosciencemum]

In the uk hep b is only given to newborns whose mothers test positive. I'm posting this as a point of information that public health decisions can differ between countries - part of what initially got me interested in the question of vaccination choices. I have not personally looked into the evidence around hep b incidence and rates of serious reactions to the vaccine.

Edit to remove meta discussion.
Edited by prosciencemum - 1/11/13 at 2:02pm

[chickabiddy]

:(

Edited by chickabiddy - 1/10/13 at 9:32am

[chickabiddy]

Originally Posted by Rrrrrachel 

I do think there are good reasons to vaccinate infants for hep b. I'm not a big fan of vaccinating at birth, though, when there's a pretty good idea about moms hep b status. 2 months seems soon enough. On the other hand, there is a significant number of women out there who have hep b and don't know it. What do y'all think? I guess I'm asking more as a public policy thing than what would you do for your kid thing.

To answer the OP, I think vaxing at birth is not necessary *if* mother's status is known.

[katelove]

Public health concerns itself with populations rather than individuals so, from a purely public health standpoint it makes sense to vaccinate at birth IMO. The majority of babies are born in hospital so health care has easy access to them. They haven't been exposed to the virus (unless mum is positive and, in Australia, babes of positive mums are offered immunoglobulin as well as the vaccine). They're getting the vaccine before they can engage in any risky behaviour. And it doesn't rely on the parents taking them back to a clinic at some future date.

From a public health standpoint this is an almost perfect scenario.

Not really on topic but, in Australia, the Hep B-only paed vaccine is only available in hospitals. Clinics and doctors surgeries only have it as part of Infanrix Hexa - DTPa, Hep B, Polio and HIb. So your options are Hep B only at birth or Infanrix Hexa later or Hep B-only as a teenager.

[HappyHappyMommy]

Hi Everyone,

There are posts in this thread that make critical generalizations about others. As a reminder, the forum guidelines state "While no one should be labeled as irresponsible or uninformed for deciding to vaccinate, neither should parents here who have chosen to not vaccinate be accused of irresponsibility, not caring for their child, or presenting a threat to others. Please respect each other and refrain from statements that are condescending, hurtful, judgmental, and belittling." Please edit your posts if they make condescending, hurtful, judgmental, or belittling comments.

In addition, there are several posts discussing concerns about other posts in this thread. Concerns about posts or threads should not be raised in a thread. The proper avenue for addressing concerns about other posts is via reporting (flagging) a post or PMing a moderator or administrator. Please edit your posts if they contain concerns about other posts in this thread or what should and should not be posted here. If you have concerns about another post in the thread, please flag the post or PM me.

Thank you!

HHM

[IdentityCrisisMama]

It's always been difficult for me to separate the public policy issue from the personal. Though, I did always think it odd that so many women say that they know their partner is faithful. I think early on with the Heb B issue I said to my DH that I knew I did not catch Hep B from anyone - and he should be pretty darn sure too. ;-)  

[Rrrrrachel]

Yeah I declined eye goop and we had that conversation. Something like "I tested negative for vd back in __ month, no reason to think I've contracted one since then, RIGHT?" And I explained how important it was to be sure in order to decline the eye stuff.

[chickabiddy]

In addition, there are several posts discussing concerns about other posts in this thread. Concerns about posts or threads should not be raised in a thread.

I've edited as requested.  Can we please have a discussion in the discussion/debate forum about what "support only" means?  If the support-only forums are actually open to all points of view as soon as a question mark is typed, as Taximom suggested, I'd like to be aware of that because there have been some topics of potential interest in the other support forum.

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by chickabiddy 

In addition, there are several posts discussing concerns about other posts in this thread. Concerns about posts or threads should not be raised in a thread.

I've edited as requested.  Can we please have a discussion in the discussion/debate forum about what "support only" means?  If the support-only forums are actually open to all points of view as soon as a question mark is typed, as Taximom suggested, I'd like to be aware of that because there have been some topics of potential interest in the other support forum.

Please raise questions or general concerns about forum guidelines (e.g. "what does support only mean?") in the Technical Issues and Forum Information forum or PM a moderator or administrator.

[Turquesa]

I'm still looking for the original, primary source of that 18,000 number. How was this data gathered, and on what basis does this estimate come?

[Rrrrrachel]

I haven't been able to find it, but I emailed someone at chop to ask.

This is from the CDC, and speaks to what I was saying about the actual number of hep b infections being much higher than the reported number. In 2007 the vaccine was already in use.

"In 2007, there were an estimated 43,000 new Hepatitis B virus infections in the United States. However, the official number of reported Hepatitis B cases is much lower. Many people don’t know they are infected or may not have symptoms and therefore never seek the attention of medical or public health officials."

[Rrrrrachel]

The WHO position paper (which does footnote their sources) says that in high endemic areas the most common type of transmission is early childhood (including mother to child at birth) and in low endemic areas childhood transmission accounts for as many as 1/3 of chronic cases.

http://www.who.int/wer/2009/wer8440.pdf

[Rrrrrachel]

I know this is old news now, but I got this response from my request for a source for the 18000 number.

Thanks for contacting us and I apologize for the delayed response. I was in touch with Dr. Offit and he said that number was from the following source:
G. L. Armstrong, E. E. Mast, M. Wojczynski, H. S. Margolis, “Childhood Hepatitis B Virus Infections in the United States Before Hepatitis B Immunization,” Pediatrics 108 (2001): 1123-1128.

I haven't looked it up yet.

[Turquesa]

Thanks for going to that effort!

I don't have time but will take a more thorough look at it later.

[Rrrrrachel]

It really wasn't a big deal but you're welcome.