Hepatitis-B Vaccine

Hepatitis B vaccine

• Can prevent hepatitis B, and the serious consequences of HBV infection, including liver cancer and cirrhosis.
• Routine hepatitis B vaccination of U.S. children began in 1991. Since then, the reported incidence of acute hepatitis B among children and adolescents has dropped by more than 95% – and by 75% in all age groups.
• Hepatitis B vaccine is made from a part of the hepatitis B virus. It cannot cause HBV infection. Hepatitis B vaccine is usually given as a series of 3 or 4 shots. This vaccine series gives long-term protection from HBV infection, possibly lifelong.

Who should get hepatitis B vaccine and when?

• In 2005, about 51,000 people became infected with hepatitis B.
• About 1.25 million people in the United States have chronic HBV infection.
• Each year about 3,000 to 5,000 people die from cirrhosis or liver cancer caused by HBV.
• Hepatitis B virus is spread through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person.
• A person can become infected by:

• Contact with a mother’s blood and body fluids at the time of birth;
• Contact with blood and body fluids through breaks in the skin such as bites, cuts, or sores;
• Contact with objects that could have blood or body fluids on them such as toothbrushes or razors;
• Having unprotected sex with an infected person.
• Sharing needles when injecting drugs; – being stuck with a used needle on the job.

• All children should get their first dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth and should have completed the vaccine series by 6-18 months old.
• Children and adolescents through 18 years of age who did not get the vaccine when they were younger should also be vaccinated.

Adults

• All unvaccinated adults at risk for HBV infection should be vaccinated.
  • This includes: People who travel to countries where hepatitis B is common.
  • People with HIV infection.
  • Sex partners of people infected with HBV.
  • Men who have sex with men, people who inject street drugs.
  • People with more than one sex partner.
  • People with chronic liver or kidney disease
  • people with jobs that expose them to human blood.
  • Household contacts of people infected with HBV
  • Residents and staff in institutions for the developmentally disabled.
  • Kidney dialysis patients people who travel to countries where hepatitis B is common.
  • Anyone else who wants to be protected from HBV infection may be vaccinated.