Who Should Get The Hepatitis B Vaccine
The CDC recommends it for all babies, who should get their first dose as newborns.
Other people who need it include:
- People younger than age 19 who haven’t been vaccinated
- Anyone who has a sex partner with hepatitis B
- People who are sexually active but arenât in a long-term relationship in which both partners are monogamous
- Anyone being evaluated or treated for an STD
- Men who have sex with men
- People who share needles used to inject drugs
- Anyone who lives with someone who has hep B
- Anyone whose job routinely puts them at risk for coming in contact with blood or blood-contaminated body fluids
- People with end-stage kidney disease
- People who live and work in facilities for people who are developmentally disabled
- Travelers to regions with moderate to high rates of hepatitis B
- People with chronic liver disease
- People with HIV infections
You should not get the vaccine if you had a severe allergic reaction to an earlier dose or are allergic to yeast, because yeast is used to make the vaccine.
Who Should Not Get The Vaccine
Speak with your health care provider if you have had a life-threatening reaction to a previous dose of hepatitis A vaccine, or any component of the vaccine including neomycin, 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.
Who Should Get Immunised Against Hepatitis A
Anyone who wants to protect themselves against hepatitis A can talk to their doctor about getting immunised.
Hepatitis A immunisation is recommended for:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who live in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia or South Australia, at 18 months and 4 years for free under the National Immunisation Program
- People who regularly provide care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia or South Australia
- children at least 12 months old and adults who are travelling to areas where hepatitis A is common
- people who live or work with rural or remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- people who work in early childhood education and care
- people with developmental disabilities, and their carers
- plumbers and sewage workers
Your doctor can tell you which vaccine they will use for your hepatitis A immunisation.
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Hepatitis A Vaccine And International Travel
Who should get the hepatitis A vaccine before traveling internationally?
All unvaccinated people, along with those who have never had hepatitis A, should be vaccinated before traveling to countries where hepatitis A is common. Travelers to urban areas, resorts, and luxury hotels in countries where hepatitis A is common are still at risk. International travelers have been infected, even though they regularly washed their hands and were careful about what they drank and ate. Those who are too young or cant get vaccinated because of a previous, life-threatening reaction to the hepatitis A vaccine or vaccine component should receive immune globulin. Travelers to other countries where hepatitis A does not commonly occur are not recommended to receive hepatitis A vaccine before travel.
How soon before travel should I get the hepatitis A vaccine?
You should get the first dose of hepatitis A vaccine as soon as you plan international travel to a country where hepatitis A is common. The vaccine will provide some protection even if you get vaccinated closer to departure. For older adults , people who are immunocompromised, and people with chronic liver disease or other chronic medical conditions the health-care provider may consider, based on several factors, giving an injection of immune globulin at the same time in different limbs.
What should I do if I am traveling internationally but cannot receive hepatitis A vaccine?
Safety And Adverse Events
Common and local adverse events
HA vaccine
HA vaccine is well tolerated. Reactions are generally mild and transient, and are usually limited to soreness and redness at the injection site. Other less frequent reactions include headache, irritability, malaise, fever, fatigue and gastrointestinal symptoms. Injection site reactions occur less frequently in children than in adults as do mild, systemic events . No significant difference in reactions is evident between initial and subsequent doses of vaccine or in the presence of pre-existing immunity.
HAHB vaccine
Refer to Hepatitis B Vaccine in Part 4 for information about HAHB vaccine.
Ig
Injection site reactions following receipt of standard human Ig include tenderness, erythema and stiffness of local muscles, which may persist for several hours. Mild fever or malaise may occasionally occur.
Less common and serious or severe adverse events
Less common side effects following receipt of standard human Ig include flushing, headache, chills and nausea. Urticaria, angioedema and anaphylactic reactions may occur rarely.
Guidance on reporting Adverse Events Following Immunization
Vaccine providers are asked to report, through local public health officials, any serious or unexpected adverse event temporally related to vaccination. An unexpected AEFI is an event that is not listed in available product information but may be due to the immunization, or a change in the frequency of a known AEFI.
Contraindications and precautions
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Immunizing Agents Available For Use In Canada
Hepatitis A-containing vaccines
- AVAXIM® and AVAXIM®-Pediatric , Sanofi Pasteur SA , Sanofi Pasteur Ltd.
- HAVRIX®1440 and HAVRIX®720 Junior , GlaxoSmithKline Inc.
- TWINRIX® and TWINRIX®Junior , GlaxoSmithKline Inc. Refer to Hepatitis B Vaccine in Part 4 for additional information about HAHB vaccine.
- VAQTA® , Merck Canada Inc.
- ViVAXIM® , Sanofi Pasteur Ltd.
Human immunoglobulin
- GamaSTAN® , Grifols Therapeutics LLC.
Standard human immunoglobulin is a sterile, concentrated solution for intramuscular injection containing 15% to 18% immunoglobulin. It is obtained from pooled human plasma from screened donors and contains mainly IgG with small amounts of IgA and IgM. For complete prescribing information, consult the product leaflet or information contained within the product monograph available through Health Canada’s Drug product database.
Refer to Contents in Immunizing Agents Available for Use in Canada in Part 1 for lists of vaccines and passive immunizing agents available for use in Canada and their contents.
Who Should Not Receive Hepatitis A Vaccine
There are a very few situations where the hepatitis A vaccine is not recommended. They include:
- If you have an illness causing a high temperature. In this situation, it is best to postpone vaccination until after you have fully recovered from the illness.
- If you have had an allergic reaction to the vaccine or to any of its components in the past.
- One type of vaccine should not be given to anyone who is known to be allergic to eggs.
- Children under the age of 1 year. However, the risk of hepatitis A in children under the age of 1 year is very low. The hepatitis A vaccine is not licensed for this age group.
The vaccine may be given if you are pregnant or breastfeeding and vaccination against hepatitis A is thought to be necessary.
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How Can I Contract Hepatitis A
You can contract the hepatitis A virus by eating food or drinking beverages that have been contaminated by human fecal waste.
Resort activities that may put you at risk for hepatitis A include:
Eating food handled by an infected worker who did not wash his/her hands properly after using the washroom
Eating raw or undercooked seafood and shellfish that lived in sewage-polluted water
Eating salads or produce rinsed in contaminated water
Drinking contaminated water or drinks with contaminated ice
Bathing, showering, or swimming in contaminated water
Common And Local Adverse Events
HB vaccine
HB vaccine is well tolerated. Reactions are generally mild and transient, and include: irritability, headache, fatigue and injection site reactions in 10% or more of recipients.
HAHB vaccine
There is no increase in adverse events when HAHB vaccine is compared with HA vaccine given alone or concomitantly with HB vaccine at a different injection site. When the adult formulation of HAHB vaccine is given to children in the 2 dose schedule, there is no increase in adverse events compared with those occurring after administration of the pediatric formulation of HAHB vaccine.
DTaP-HB-IPV-Hib vaccine
Reactions are usually mild and transient, and include fever, irritability, restlessness and injection site reactions .
HBIg
Headache, diarrhea, fever, urticaria, angioedema and injection site reactions may occur.
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People Whose Occupation Increases Their Risk Of Acquiring Hepatitis A
People who live or work in rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia or Western Australia are recommended to receive hepatitis A vaccine.
2 doses are required, with a recommended interval between doses of 6 months.
People who regularly provide care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are recommended to receive hepatitis A vaccine.
2 doses are required, with a recommended interval between doses of 6 months.
Early childhood educators and carers are recommended to receive hepatitis A vaccine.
2 doses are required, with a recommended interval between doses of 6 months.
Carers of people with developmental disabilities are recommended to receive hepatitis A vaccine.
2 doses are required, with a recommended interval between doses of 6 months.
Plumbers and sewage workers are recommended to receive hepatitis A vaccine.
2 doses are required, with a recommended interval between doses of 6 months.
Who Should Get The Hepatitis A Vaccine
Over the last 15 years, there have been many outbreaks of hepatitis A in Aboriginal communities in B.C., and so the hepatitis A vaccine has been offered to all Aboriginal children and adolescents aged 6 months to 18 years living both on-reserve and off-reserve since January 1, 2012.
The hepatitis A vaccine is also recommended for, and provided free to, the following people at high risk of infection:
- Those who have hemophilia or receive repeated infusions of blood or blood products.
- Those who inject illegal drugs or share drug snorting, smoking, or injecting equipment.
- Males who have sex with other males.
- Those with HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection, or chronic liver disease.
- Those who have had a stem cell transplant.
- Those who will have or have had a liver transplant.
- Inmates of a correctional facility.
- Those who are in close contact with persons infected by the hepatitis A virus such as people living in the same house, sexual partners, close friends, and children in the same daycare.
- Those who have eaten food prepared by a food handler with hepatitis A infection.
If you may have been exposed to hepatitis A, you should get 1 dose of the vaccine within 14 days of the exposure to prevent disease. This is provided for free.
The vaccine is also recommended, but not provided free, for people likely to come in contact with or spread the hepatitis A virus, including:
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Should Pregnant Or Breast
The safety of hepatitis A vaccination during pregnancy has not been determined however, because hepatitis A vaccine is produced from inactivated virus, the risk to the developing fetus is probably low. The risk associated with hepatitis A vaccine should be discussed with your health care provider to determine if vaccination is right for you.
Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in these states and territories are recommended to receive 2 doses of monovalent hepatitis A vaccine:
- the Northern Territory
This is due to the increased risk for hepatitis A in this population.1 See Epidemiology.
These children should receive:
- 1st dose at 18 months of age
- 2nd dose at 4 years of age
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children < 10 years of age who have not received hepatitis A vaccine at the recommended schedule points may need extra doses of vaccine and/or an alternative schedule.
See Catch-up vaccination for more details, including minimum intervals between doses.
Hepatitis A vaccination is recommended for people with chronic liver disease of any aetiology, if they are not immune to hepatitis A.2,3 This includes:
- people with chronic liver disease
- people who have received a liver solid organ transplant
- people with chronic hepatitis B
- people with chronic hepatitis C
2 doses are required, with a recommended interval between doses of 6 months.
People with chronic liver disease should receive the vaccine as early in the course of the disease as possible. Immune responses to vaccination in these people can vary for example:
- people with chronic liver disease of mild to moderate severity mount a good immune response
- people with end-stage liver disease do not respond as well
- liver transplant recipients may not respond at all 4,5
2 doses are required, with a recommended interval between doses of 6 months.
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What Is Hepatitis A & B
Hepatitis A and B are two viruses that affect your liver’s ability to function. Hepatitis A is usually spread through the ingestion of contaminated food or water or close contact including sexual relations with someone who is already infected. Hepatitis B is spread through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person, including contact with objects that could have blood or body fluids on them such as toothbrushes and razors.
The hepatitis A virus can cause a flu-like illness, a yellowing of the skin or eyes , along with severe stomach pains and diarrhea. The hepatitis B virus can cause a short-term flu-like illness, or long-term infection that can lead to liver damage, liver cancer or death. Babies and young children infected with hepatitis B are more likely to get this chronic form of the disease.
The Above Policy Is Based On The Following References:
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What Is The Hepatitis A & B Vaccine
The hepatitis A & B vaccine contains both hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines to prevent these two forms of hepatitis. It is administered either as three doses over a period of six months, or three shots administered over one month with the addition of a booster shot after one year.
View more information on the Hepatitis B vaccine.
Vaccines For Hepatitis A And B
Our immune system battles foreign invaders every day, such as when we get a cold virus. When this happens, we develop immunity to that specific virus. This means that our body will fight off the virus if it is ever exposed to it again.
The same protection happens with vaccines. However, the benefit of a vaccination is that you don’t have to go through being sick to enable your body to fight off disease.
Gregory Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, explains that hepatitis vaccinations contain a small amount of the inactive virus. When you get a dose of the vaccine, he says, your immune cells respond by developing immunity against the virus. This immunity lasts over a long period of time.
“So if I get these two doses of hepatitis A vaccine, and then I get exposed 30 years from now, my body will remember that immunity to the vaccine and rapidly start producing antibodies again,” says Poland.
Due to the way hepatitis vaccinations are developed, it is impossible to contract the virus from the vaccine itself, according to Poland.
The hepatitis A vaccine is usually given in two shots and the hepatitis B vaccine is administered as a series of three shots. The most common side effects are redness, pain, and tenderness where the shots are given.
To get long-term protection from these viruses, it’s important to receive all the shots as scheduled. However, if you received one shot and never went back for the others, it’s not too late to catch up.
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Hepatitis A Immunisation Service
Hepatitis A vaccines are given as a needle, either on their own or as a combination vaccine. They can be provided by a variety of recognised immunisation providers. If you’re eligible, you can get the hepatitis A vaccine free under the National Immunisation Program .
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How Does Hepatitis A Spread
Contaminated food or water is the most common source of hepatitis A infection. Contamination can happen at any point in the food growing, processing or cooking process. Travelers are at an increased risk. Take extra precautions in developing countries with poor sanitary conditions.
It is possible for the disease to spread through close contact with an infected person. This includes sex or caring for an infected person.
Vaccination is the best form of protection.
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