Selective vaxers -- how do you feel about Hep A? - Page 2

[delphiniumpansy]

Originally Posted by alegna

It's also a risky vaccine. I'm not convinced there is any realistic way for a preschooler to contract it. It seems most logical to wait for this one until the pre-teen years at least.

-Angela

Yes, I agree. By advocating starting that one late, I do intend for protection to be maximized by the teen years. In order to do so, one must start vaxing in early childhood so that immunity is built up by teen years. Teen years frighten me! So many health issues!

[mamakay]

In order to do so, one must start vaxing in early childhood so that immunity is built up by teen years

Huh? Who told you that?

[alegna]

Originally Posted by mamakay

Huh? Who told you that?

:

Hep B is a series vaccine. If the series is followed (and I believe it takes just a month or two) then "full immunity" should be gained at the end of the series.

-Angela

[delphiniumpansy]

It takes at least six mos between shots. But, you could spread it out more. If you started at school age, say 6, then you could it at yearly shots and be done in a few years and then have supposed immunity before the teen years.

[GooeyRN]

We selectively and delay vax...

I didn't think the HEP A one was important to get at this time. Young kids usually don't get real sick from HEP A, so why bother. Both dh and I are healthy, so we would live through it if dd got it and gave it to us. I also think its too new of a vax to give right now. Maybe when dd is older we will consider it, but not right now.

I did get dd the HEP B vax series. (and myself) I work in health care, and have gotten blood on me several times. You never really know who has HEP B, and when you work in an area where you are likely to be exposed frequently, its one that is important IMO. I know young children normally aren't having sex, or shooting drugs, but when I am exposed, I would like to take measures to keep my dd healthy as well. Also, if another kid were to bite my dd and break the skin, how would I know if they didn't have open area's in their mouth? If you don't work in healthcare and your children aren't really around other kids, I wouldn't worry about getting the HEP B vax either. But for us, it is a concern.

[holly6737]

We aren't doing Hep A. It was the easiest one to cross off to be honest with you.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by yellowpansy

It takes at least six mos between shots. But, you could spread it out more. If you started at school age, say 6, then you could it at yearly shots and be done in a few years and then have supposed immunity before the teen years.

That's not how you're supposed to do it:

http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_...ombivax_pi.pdf

RECOMBIVAX HB Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) PEDIATRIC/ADOLESCENT (WITHOUT
PRESERVATIVE) and ADULT FORMULATIONS (WITHOUT PRESERVATIVE) ARE NOT INTENDED
FOR USE IN PREDIALYSIS/DIALYSIS PATIENTS.
Three-Dose Regimen
The vaccination regimen for each population consists of 3 doses of vaccine given according to the
following schedule:

RECOMBIVAX HB
Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) 7994331
9
First dose: at elected date
Second dose: 1 month later
Third dose: 6 months after the first dose

[EdnaMarie]

We got Hep B. I might have considered delaying it but we live in a poor country so there is a greater chance of any one of us getting it should we be hospitalized (as needles could be contaminated). The risk of any of us getting Hep B, especially given our circumstances (in addition to having five medical workers and one prison worker in our near immediate family), was far, far, far greater than the risk of a vaccine reaction.

We did not get Hep A. I haven't had it. She hasn't had it. DH hasn't had it. We didn't consider it serious enough to add on to the list of shots she needed. We might get it for her later, though, now that I know about the organ donation thing. We all have very rare blood types. Hmmm.

[huggerwocky]

They're not high on my list to get, but we will get them eventually. I know our hep B status, so that helps. We want to visit India in the near future and I'm considering Heb A for all of us. I think my husband had Hep A already ( some 10 years ago) but but the doctor just called it jaundice ( was not in the U.S.). he was very sick and it would be even worse in a undeveloped country on vacation for the children.

[prettypixels]

I'm not planning to do HepA. To be honest I have no idea how my doctor will feel about that either... so far we've done everything. (Except Hep B at birth, but we had a home birth.)

[blue_bug]

ok, first of all hep a, very minor illness, not worthy of a vac imo. also it is one of the vacs that contains aborted fetal cells -if that bothers you.

http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html

secondly,

Originally Posted by yellowpansy

It takes at least six mos between shots. But, you could spread it out more. If you started at school age, say 6, then you could it at yearly shots and be done in a few years and then have supposed immunity before the teen years.

this is VERY inaccurate information and should not be followed. i give this vac as part of my job, and it is NEVER ok to give it like this. there is a certain time period between each injection and if you miss that specific time, you start the whole series over.

i would be more concerned about starting it too soon and not maintaining antibodies...

[amnesiac]

Originally Posted by blue_bug

this is VERY inaccurate information and should not be followed. i give this vac as part of my job, and it is NEVER ok to give it like this. there is a certain time period between each injection and if you miss that specific time, you start the whole series over.

i would be more concerned about starting it too soon and not maintaining antibodies...

Actually, you're incorrect about that. It is not ever necessary to restart the series if the schedule is interrupted. Longer intervals are acceptable, shorter intervals are not.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pin...loads/hepb.pdf

[rredhead]

Vaxed immunity wears off. Adults are supposed to get boosters, but generally don't. This is a pro-vax article that states that the Hep B vaccine immunity lasts 10-15 years.
http://cw11.empowereddoctor.com/story_435.html

"The latest research in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows the Hepatitis B vaccine lasts for 15 years, a longer period than the ten years it had been previously thought to last. However, this varies depending upon the age of the person vaccinated."

So, when the kids actually need the immunity, they lose it.

As for the stats that yellowpansy cites, note the words "PEOPLE" and "AMERICANS". 12 million AMERICANS have been infected. How many of those AMERICANS are children? In the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccines, Dr. Stephanie Cave asserts that in 1996, there were 54 cases of Hepatitis B in infants. At the same time, there were hundreds of reports of adverse effects in young children to VAERS.

A headline at Vaccination News reads: More Hepatitis B Vaccine Reactions Among Children Reported Than Cases Of the Disease - this is from January 1999, and has more numbers. http://www.909shot.com/PressReleases/prhepb012799.htm

"... in 1996, there were 872 serious adverse events reported to VAERS in children under 14 years of age who had been injected with hepatitis B vaccine. The children were either taken to a hospital emergency room, had life threatening health problems, were hospitalized or were left disabled following vaccination. 214 of the children had received hepatitis B vaccine alone and the rest had received hepatitis B vaccine in combination with other vaccines. 48 children were reported to have died after they were injected with hepatitis B vaccine in 1996 and 13 of them had received hepatitis B vaccine only before their deaths. By contrast, in 1996 only 279 cases of hepatitis B disease were reported in children under age 14."

and

"NVIC maintains that reports made by doctors to VAERS represent only a small fraction of the vaccine-related injuries and deaths which occur in the U.S. every year. A former FDA Commissioner wrote in JAMA in 1993 that one study showed "only about 1 percent of serious events" attributable to drug reactions are reported to the FDA."

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JID...41_954.web.pdf
90% of infections in infants and young children are asymptomatic.
Historically, Hep B has been most prevalent in people over 39 years of age.

There are a number of vaccines for Hep B. Aluminum, in some form, appears in all of them, and two contain formaldehyde.

These numbers are all from the US, and I can't speak as to risk factors in other countries. However, in the US Hep B is most prevalent in the sexually promiscuous and IV drug user communities. It's not a children's disease, and the immunity wears off before the risk is real.

[amnesiac]

I wonder what they mean by how long it lasts - because according to the CDC, though antibody levels do decline over time, anamnestic response continues to protect people who responded to the vaccine.

[maxmazmom]

We have opted to skip the HepA vax. I told my pediatrician that we would revisit the discussion if we planned to travel any place where it was prevalent.

[blue_bug]

you are right, for right now. they change this constantly, we were just told about 2 wks ago to not restart series. there are still lots of offices that do restart. gotta love the medical field.

there are two time tables, the normal and an accelerated. i would still be very wary of making your own extended time table up, there are those that still have problems converting and making antibodies even after the normal schedule.

if you're concerned about the vaccination, i would just wait until their older and get it done on a regular schedule. (i personally won't be vaccinating my kids against hep b -they can choose to have it later if they'll be going into a career that would expose them)

Originally Posted by amnesiac

Actually, you're incorrect about that. It is not ever necessary to restart the series if the schedule is interrupted. Longer intervals are acceptable, shorter intervals are not.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pin...loads/hepb.pdf