Hepatitis B Vaccine for Children

Hepatitis B Vaccine

Hepatitis B virus, (HBV), or serum hepatitis virus, can cause infection at any age. After initial infection, especially if acquired in infancy, HBV may lead to chronic infection of the liver in up to ten percent of those infected, and can cause serious liver disease. At first, there may be no symptoms at all, and signs of infection may show up only many years later, when the infected individual develops liver failure and/or liver cancer.

HBV Transmission

HBV may be transmitted in several ways. Children, especially under age five, living in the same household with an HBV carrier are at some risk. HBV is most commonly spread through sexual intercourse or through contact with infected blood, such as when drug users share needles, and may be passed from mother to infant at the time of birth, if the mother is chronically infected. Fully half of the 250,000 Americans acquiring hepatitis B each year have no known risk factors.

Vaccine Protection

More than 95 percent of those who receive all three recommended doses of the hepatitis B vaccine are protected against the illnesses caused by the hepatitis B virus.

The first dose of the vaccine should be given shortly after birth. Infants of mothers who are chronically infected must also receive hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) at birth. The second dose should be given by two months of age and the third dose can be given between six and twelve months of age. Any child who has not been immunized should also receive the three-dose series of vaccines.

Vaccine Reactions/Side Effects

No serious reactions have been reported with this vaccine, and most children have no associated side effects. Those side effects that sometimes occur--fussiness and soreness, swelling, or redness where the shot was given--are usually mild and temporary. If any symptoms occur, they subside between 48 and 72 hours after the vaccination.

Studies to date show no evidence of a link between Hepatitis B and multiple sclerosis or other long-term nervous system disorders. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 199918:23-4. www.vaccine.chop.edu

Source: Pediatrics Infectious Disease Journal

Reviewed: September 2002 Reviewed

By:
Dr. Melaine Klein
Camino Medical Group
Pediatrics