INFORMATION ON VACCINE

Hepatitis B vaccine is a noninfectious recombinant DNA vaccine. That means, it is not made from any substance of human origin but rather is genetically engineered from the hepatitis B antigen grown on yeast cells. Up to 99% of vaccinated persons develop immunity to the hepatitis B virus. Body fluid precautions still need to be observed for those who may be exposed because of other diseases that may be present in that fluid. It is impossible to catch hepatitis B or any other disease from this vaccine. The disease itself is spread by infected blood or other body fluids and can cause hepatitis (acute and chronic), liver damage, and/or liver cancer. The vaccine series consists of 3 shots at 0, 1, and 6 months. We recommend a blood test to confirm effectiveness of the vaccine.

INFORMATION ON RISKS

As with any medicine, there are very small risks that serious problems, even death, could occur after taking the vaccine. The risks from the vaccine are much smaller than the risks from the disease if people stopped using vaccine. Almost all people who get Hepatitis B vaccine have no serious problems from it and it will never cause a case hepatitis. If mild or moderate problems occur, they usually start soon after the vaccination and usually last up to 1-2 days and include:

• soreness, redness, or swelling at injection site,
• fever,
• headaches/dizziness,
• various lesser multisystem complaints less than 1%.

DO NOT TAKE THE HEPATITIS B VACCINE IF YOU:

• have an allergy to yeast,
• are pregnant or nursing,
• have a serious active infection.