About 90 percent of infected babies become chronic carriers. The risk of becoming a chronic carrier is highest in infants.

Cancer of the liver occurs in about five to 15 percent of chronic carriers.

Chronic carriers can pass the virus on to others through infected blood or sexual intercourse.

Most people recover from hepatitis B but some people can become chronic carriers and the virus can stay in the liver and lead to liver damage and cancer.

Hepatitis B can cause liver cancer in some people.

The vaccine is 90 percent effective in children but is less effective in those over 30.įor further more detailed information about hepatitis B, please refer to the detailed article on the illness.(keyword=hepatitis B) There is a new vaccine which also protects against Hepatitis A (Twinrix) but this is not part of the free childhood immunisation schedule. One is called Engerix-B and the other is called HB-II Vax. There are two different types of the vaccine in New Zealand.

The body is stimulated by the vaccine to form antibodies against the actual hepatitis B virus. The hepatitis B vaccine is a synthetically made yeast derived vaccine. The vaccine is routinely given at six weeks, three months and five months.The vaccine is safe, though some people may feel unwell and have diarrhoea.It is the first vaccine that can protect against cancer (liver cancer).The vaccine is 90 percent effective in young children.The hep B vaccine is prepared synthetically.The hepatitis B vaccine protects against hepatitis B.Reports of Hep B vaccination causing Guillain–Barré syndrome, demyelinating diseases and arthritis are not backed by evidence.Īccording to the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety, ‘multiple studies and review panels have concluded there is no association between multiple sclerosis and Hepatitis B vaccination’. Serious effects such as anaphylaxis are rare in adults and are more likely to occur in people with a yeast allergy. soreness at the site of the injection (5%).Hepatitis B vaccine is NOT linked with an increased risk of the following in vaccinated newborns compared with unvaccinated infants:Īdverse events after Hepatitis B vaccination are transient and minor in adults, and they may include: The vaccine does not interfere with breastfeeding, either when first starting or maintaining it. Newborn babies tolerate their dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine very well, according to the Australian Government’s Department of Health. How often do you need to be vaccinated for hepatitis B? people who inject drugs and share needles.migrants from Hepatitis B endemic countries.

sexual contacts of people with Hepatitis B.household or other close contacts of people with Hepatitis B.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.travellers to medium to highly endemic Hepatitis B areas.staff in facilities caring for people with developmental disabilities.police, members of the armed forces, health workers, emergency services staff and staff of correctional facilities.infants born to mothers who are Hepatitis B positive.people with Hepatitis C or with chronic liver disease.before solid organ transplant or after stem cell transplant.

severely impaired renal function, or on dialysis.people who are immunocompromised, such as HIV.As a result, those people considered at risk of infection would include anyone with an underlying medical condition, with background, occupational or lifestyle exposures, or for travel to medium to highly endemic Hep B countries. The Hepatitis B virus is transmitted from one infectious person to another through broken skin or contact with mucosal surfaces from blood or other body fluids, such as vaginal fluids and semen. travellers to hepatitis B–endemic areas.whose lifestyle or other circumstances increase their risk of acquiring hepatitis B.whose occupation increases their risk of acquiring hepatitis B.The recommendations for specified risk groups apply to those: Adolescents aged 11–15 years receive an alternative 2-dose schedule over 6 months as part of the school-based immunisation program. Preventing Hep B infection in infants, which is often asymptomatic, will also remove the elevated risk of them developing chronic Hepatitis B and its associated outcomes of cirrhosis or liver cancer in later life.įor older children, adolescents and adults not vaccinated as infants, there are particular risk groups for which the Hepatitis B vaccinations are advisable they are given as a 3 or 4-dose schedule over 2-12 months. Hepatitis B vaccination is included in the childhood vaccination schedule of the Australian National Immunisation Program for infants in a 4-dose schedule from birth to 6 months of age.

Hepatitis b vaccine after effects