Hepatitis B Vaccine Schedule For Child

Hepatitis B Vaccine Schedules

The newborn hepatitis vaccine is part of a three-dose series that begins at the hospital after birth and continues with pediatrician visits.

When it comes to vaccinating newborns, there are two schedules that can be followedone for babies of moms who have hepatitis B and one for babies where it is unknown or the mother had a negative hepatitis B blood test. The CDC, however, recommends the following vaccination schedule for all children.

The Hepatitis B Foundation recommends the following vaccination schedule for moms who have hepatitis B and their newborns. They stress that babies with moms who test positive for hepatitis B receive the vaccine as well as 0.5 milliliters of hepatitis B immune globulin .

Here is an overview of the schedules they recommend when moms test positive for hepatitis B. One schedule is similar to the CDC’s schedule and the other uses combination vaccines. Talk to your baby’s pediatrician to determine what schedule they plan to follow.

How Safe Is The Hepatitis B Vaccine

The HBV vaccine is very safe. Side effects with this vaccine are uncommon, but may include soreness where the shot was given, and fever. Fever after vaccination is a common side effect for most vaccines, and is due to the immune system mounting a response against the vaccine, which is the desired result of vaccination. This fever is low grade and will resolve on its own. Because of how the vaccine is made, people with severe yeast allergy are not recommended to get HBV vaccine.

Babies And Hepatitis B Vaccination

Pregnant women have a routine blood test for hepatitis B as part of their antenatal care.

Babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B need to be given a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of their birth, followed by further doses at 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age, plus a final dose when they’re 1 year old.

Babies of mothers identified by the blood test as particularly infectious might also be given an injection of HBIG at birth on top of the hepatitis B vaccination to give them rapid protection against infection.

All babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B should be tested at 1 year of age to check if they’ve become infected with the virus.

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Accelerated Us Children And Adult Hepatitis B Vaccine Schedules

*Please note that the first dose should be given as soon as possible. Additional doses require minimum time intervals between doses in order for the vaccine to be effective.

In some instances, it may be necessary to vaccinate within a short period of time to ensure protection before travel. There are accelerated schedules to provide the highest level of protection over a short period of time. Individuals who need an accelerated schedule must have a booster dose at 1 year to ensure long-term protection. Note that the 2-dose Heplisav-B vaccine will also ensure maximum protection over a 1-month period without the need for a booster dose at 1 year.

4-Dose Vaccine Series for Children and Adults

Engerix-B is a 3-dose vaccine that can be given on an accelerated, four-dose schedule, with 3 shots administered within 2 months, and a booster dose at 1 year to provide maximum long-term protection.

4-Dose Combination Hepatitis A and B Vaccine Series

Twinrix is a 4-dose vaccine that can be given on an accelerated schedule to provide protection against hepatitis A and B. Three doses are administered within 1 month, followed by a booster shot at 1 year. This is a common choice of vaccine for those travelling on short-notice outside the U.S. It is important to complete the booster dose at 1 year, to ensure long-term protection.

2-Dose Vaccine Series

When Should A Child Not Be Vaccinated

In a few cases, it’s better to wait to get a vaccine. Some children who are very sick should not get a vaccine at all. Reasons that you should wait or not get a vaccine may include:

• Being sick with something more serious than a cold.
• Having a bad reaction after the first dose of a vaccine.
• Having a convulsion that is thought to be caused by a vaccine.

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Why Should I Vaccinate My Newborn Child If I Know That I Am Not Infected With Hepatitis B Virus

Before the hepatitis B vaccine, every year in the United States about 18,000 children were infected with hepatitis B virus by the time they were 10 years old. This statistic is especially important because people are much more likely to develop liver cancer or cirrhosis if they are infected early in life, rather than later in life .

About 9,000 of the 18,000 children infected in the first 10 years of life caught the virus from their mother during birth. However, many young children didn’t catch the disease from their mother. They caught it from either another family member or someone else who came in contact with the child. Because hepatitis B can be transmitted by relatively casual contact with items contaminated with blood of an infected person, and because many people who are infected with hepatitis B virus don’t know that they have it, it is virtually impossible to be “careful enough” to avoid this infection.

For these reasons, all young children are recommended to receive the hepatitis B vaccine. The best time to receive the first dose is right after birth. This will ensure that the child will be protected as early as possible from catching hepatitis B from people who dont know that they are infected with the virus.

Listen to Dr. Offit explain why newborns get the hepatitis B vaccine by watching this short video, part of the series Talking About Vaccines with Dr. Paul Offit.

How Can I Protect Myself And My Family

• Through vaccination Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and your family from HBV infection. Talk to your healthcare provider about which members of your family should be vaccinated
• Use a condom or dental dam during sex acts
• Do not share needles utilize needle exchange services
• Do not share toothbrushes or razors
• Wear latex or plastic gloves when in contact with blood, and clean spills with a solution of 1 part household bleach to 10 parts water
• Only get tattooed and pierced with licensed body art practitioners that properly sterilize their needles find out more about Californias laws on safe body art practices.

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How And When Do Doctors Give Vaccines

For the hepatitis A vaccine:

You should get two doses, given as shots, 6 months apart for complete protection. The virus in the vaccine is killed .

Children should get the first dose between 12 and 23 months of age. Children older than age 2 can get the first dose at their next doctorâs visit.

If you need the vaccine because of upcoming travel, get it at least 1 month before you go.

For the hepatitis B vaccine:

For long-lasting immunity, you need three to four doses, depending on which type of vaccine is used. You get them as shots.

Children should get their first dose at birth and complete the series by age 6 months. Usually, the baby would get a second dose at 1 month old and the third dose at 6 months.

Babies born to women who have hepatitis B need a shot of hep B antibodies, as well as their first hep B vaccine shot, when theyâre born. They will also need follow-up blood tests to make sure theyâre OK.

Catch-up vaccinations are recommended for children and teens who were never vaccinated or who did not get all three shots.

If you’re an adult who wants to be vaccinated, you should talk about it with your doctor or pharmacist. If you are considering both vaccines, ask your doctor about vaccines that combine hep A and B.

General Information About Vaccination Outside The Us

In developing countries, the pentavalent vaccine, a combination 5-in-one vaccine that protects against five diseases, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, Hib and hepatitis B, may be given to babies more than 6 weeks of age, and can be given up to 1 year of age. The first dose is given at 6 weeks, and the second and third doses are given at 10 and 14 weeks of age. The pentavalent vaccine may be made available free of charge with the support of GAVI, the vaccine alliance. Check the GAVI country hub to see the resources and immunizations that may be available:

For babies born to mothers with hepatitis B, waiting for the first dose of the pentavalent vaccine is too late and will NOT protect the baby from vertical or horizontal transmission of hepatitis B. Babies born to a mother with hepatitis B have a greater than 90% chance of developing chronic hepatitis B if they are not properly treated at birth.

WHO recommends the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth for ALL babies. Plan ahead and inquire about the availability and cost of the monovalent , birth dose of the vaccine, as it is not a GAVI provided immunization. This is particularly important to women who are positive for hepatitis B.

If you are unsure of your hepatitis B status, please be sure your doctor tests you for hepatitis B!

*WHO does not recommend a birth dose of HBIG, which may not be available in all countries. Talk to your doctor if you have questions.

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Are Hepatitis B Virus Infections Easily Avoided

Large quantities of hepatitis B virus are present in the blood of people with hepatitis B in fact, as many as one billion infectious viruses can be found in a milliliter of blood from an infected individual. Therefore, hepatitis B virus is transmitted in the blood of infected individuals during activities that could result in exposure to blood, such as intravenous drug use, tattooing, or sex with people who are infected. However, it is also possible to catch hepatitis B virus through more casual contact, such as sharing washcloths, toothbrushes or razors. In each of these cases, unseen amounts of blood can contain enough viral particles to cause infection. In addition, because many people who are infected don’t know that they are infected, it is very hard to avoid the chance of getting infected with hepatitis B virus.

For Children And Teens Not Vaccinated Beginning At Birth

• The dosing schedule is 0, 1 to 2 months, and 4 to 6 months.
• There is some flexibility in this schedule. Just keep in mind the minimum intervals between doses. For hepatitis B vaccine, there must be:
• At least four weeks between doses #1 and #2
• At least eight weeks between doses #2 and #3
• At least 16 weeks between doses #1 and #3

Note: A two-dose series instead of three doses may be administered to adolescents ages 11 through 15 years if using Recombivax HB® adult dose . Dose #2 is given four to six months after dose #1.

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Who Should Not Get The Hepatitis B Vaccine

Speak with your health care provider if your child has had a life-threatening reaction to a previous dose of hepatitis B vaccine, or any component of the vaccine, including yeast or to latex.

There is no need to delay getting immunized because of a cold or other mild illness.

However, if you have concerns speak with your health care provider.

Testing Your Baby For Infection

Each year, a very small number of babies may develop infection so your baby will be offered a blood test when they are 1 years old. This is to check that the course of vaccines have prevented them from developing hepatitis B.

There are 2 ways that this may be done and your GP, health visitor or practice nurse will advise you which test your baby will have:

If they do have the infection, they will be referred to a specialist for treatment to reduce their risk of developingserious liver disease.

If a young infant is infected, they are more likely to develop long lasting infection without any signs or symptoms of infection. Even if your baby has no signs or symptoms of infection they should still have the blood test.

Infection can be prevented in 90% of cases if the first dose of vaccine is given at birth and the full course of vaccines is completed on time.

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Meningococcal Serogroup B Vaccination

• Adolescents not at increased risk age 1623 years based on shared clinical decision-making:
• Bexsero: 2-dose series at least 1 month apart
• Trumenba: 2-dose series at least 6 months apart if dose 2 is administered earlier than 6 months, administer a 3rd dose at least 4 months after dose 2.

Special situations

Anatomic or functional asplenia , persistent complement component deficiency, complement inhibitor use:

• Bexsero: 2-dose series at least 1 month apart
• Trumenba: 3-dose series at 0, 12, 6 months

Bexsero and Trumenba are not interchangeable the same product should be used for all doses in a series. For MenB booster dose recommendations for groups listed under Special situations and in an outbreak setting and additional meningococcal vaccination information, see .

Benefits Of Hepatitis B Vaccine

• Provides a safety net to prevent perinatal infection among infants who are born to HBsAg-positive mothers who have not been identified
• Protects infants at risk for infection after the perinatal period
• Provides higher rates of on-time completion of the hepatitis B vaccine series for infants who get the birth dose of the vaccine
• Reduces the risk that a child could get hepatitis B later in childhood

Most importantly, young children often have no symptoms when they develop hepatitis B infections, but they are still likely to develop problems with chronic hepatitis. In fact, 90% of children who develop hepatitis before they are 12 months old will develop chronic hepatitis B.

What’s more, there is no cure for chronic hepatitis B and there are very few reliable treatments. For this reason, vaccinating babies against the infection has become a routine part of a newborn’s hospital care, just like checking their hearing or listening to their heart.

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Persons With Chronic Diseases

Refer to Immunization of Persons with Chronic Diseases in Part 3 for additional general information about vaccination of people with chronic diseases.

Chronic renal disease and patients on dialysis

People with chronic renal disease may respond sub-optimally to HB vaccine and experience more rapid decline of anti-HBs titres, and are therefore recommended immunization with a higher vaccine dose. Individuals undergoing chronic dialysis are also at increased risk for HB infection. In people with chronic renal disease anti-HBs titre should be evaluated annually and booster doses using a higher vaccine dose should be given as necessary.

Neurologic disorders

People with conditions such as autism spectrum disorders or demyelinating disorders should receive all routinely recommended immunizations, including HB-containing vaccine.

Chronic liver disease

HB immunization is recommended for non-immune persons with chronic liver disease, including those infected with hepatitis C, because they are at risk of more severe disease if infection occurs. Vaccination should be completed early in the course of the disease, as the immune response to vaccine is suboptimal in advanced liver disease. Post-immunization serologic testing may be used to confirm vaccine response.

Non-malignant hematologic disorders

Persons with bleeding disorders and other people receiving repeated infusions of blood or blood products are considered to be at higher risk of contracting HB and should be offered HB vaccine.

Hepatitis B Vaccination In Pregnancy

Hepatitis B infection in pregnant women may result in severe disease for the mother and chronic infection for the baby. This is why the hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for pregnant women who are in a high-risk category.

There’s no evidence of any risk from vaccinating pregnant or breastfeeding women against hepatitis B. And, as it’s an inactivated vaccine, the risk to the unborn baby is likely to be negligible .

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Infants Born To Mothers Who Have Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B Vaccine Schedules

*Please note that the first dose should be given as soon as possible. Additional doses require minimum time intervals between doses in order for the vaccine to be effective.

Protecting Your Baby

Infants born to women with hepatitis B must receive accurate doses of hepatitis B vaccine and hepatitis B immune globulin to ensure complete protection. In order to protect these infants, medications should be given immediately after birth in the delivery room or within the first 12-24 hours of life*.

* See Testing and Treatment During Pregnancy section for details. Please note that testing of all pregnant women for hepatitis B is a global recommendation.

3-Dose Vaccine Series for Infants

The World Health Organization recommends that infants born to hepatitis B positive mothers receive the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, and ideally a dose of hepatitis B immunoglobulin . These shots must be followed by the additional vaccine doses given on the recommended schedule. In the U.S., infants should follow a 1 month and 6-month schedule for the additional two doses.

4-Dose Combination Vaccine Series for Infants