Hep b vaccine

ambercdc · July 2015

Let me start by saying we are 100% pro vax, and baby girl will be getting all vaccines.

I am just having a hard time wrapping my mind around giving an infant the hep b vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Is anyone else struggling with this?

I want her to have this vaccine, my husband and i have both had it for travel. Hep b is only transmitted though sexual activity or direct blood to blood contact. Or if the mom delivering has it, which we know I do not.

We had the vaccine for travel in case we ended up in hospital care in a third world country. I don't think we need to worry about transmission in a hospital in the US die to unsterile needles, etc.

Why subject a newborn to the chemicals in this vaccine right away instead of waiting a few weeks or months? Would love to hear opinions either way.

I definitely don't want to put baby girl or the public at risk due to declining, but I just don't understand why this particular vaccine is given so early.

ambercdc · July 2015

My friend who is an er physician said it's because they can't trust parents to bring the baby back to get the vaccine, so they give it right away to ensure they have one dose.

Fwiw, she said she would wait...

netters625 · July 2015

My pediatrician advised me to wait till his first dr appt and not get it at the hospital, he said it isn't necessary and he belives babies go thru enough being born so I won't be having my baby get his vaccine till his first drs appt.

Miz_Liz · July 2015

Based on the CDC's website, the risk of chronic infection is related to the age at the time of exposure/infection - infants being more likely to develop a chronic infection if exposed. I know you are not anti-vax, but may I ask why you are against the baby getting this at time of birth when the CDC/Dr's recommend it? I hear a lot of people wanting to delay this vaccine and I just don't understand the logic behind it? To me, there are reasons for the vaccine schedule and if I trust in vaccines enough (which I def. do) and trust in my Dr's, I don't see a need to stray from the schedule. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/

hclzmm14 · July 2015

I would personally just stick with the vax schedule your pediatrician recommends. Every time your baby goes for a well baby visit it will be getting its next round, and skipping one might be difficult for you to keep track of. They get multiple rounds for the same diseases and some you can't get with others and some you have to wait longer, etc. It can be confusing.

jessandandy09 · July 2015

This is a delay debate I have never really understood. All of my babies have gotten their vaccinations on schedule. This LO will get hers right away too.

deviduke412 · July 2015

We will be giving our son all of the vaccinations, except for hep B. We feel it isn't necessary right now. It's a lifestyle choice shot. We don't have hep b and you only get it through sexual activity and blood transfusion as said. Our pediatrician is pro vaccination, but will not push us to get that shot Bc he knows how we live our life. He agreed that it isn't necessary right now. When our son gets older, then we can evaluate that. Bc I know even with the best parenting, kids can make poor choices. But for now, he won't be getting it.

llnieden · July 2015

I'm not anti vaccine but we are choosing to delay this one until our 2 month appointment. Baby will have already had a hectic couple days and don't see it as necessary to do right away in our situation.

lifesabeach85 · July 2015

Miz_Liz said:
Based on the CDC's website, the risk of chronic infection is related to the age at the time of exposure/infection - infants being more likely to develop a chronic infection if exposed. I know you are not anti-vax, but may I ask why you are against the baby getting this at time of birth when the CDC/Dr's recommend it? I hear a lot of people wanting to delay this vaccine and I just don't understand the logic behind it? To me, there are reasons for the vaccine schedule and if I trust in vaccines enough (which I def. do) and trust in my Dr's, I don't see a need to stray from the schedule. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/

Yep. Yep. Yep.

J&D2007 · July 2015

I was thinking about this myself recently. I am definitely have my son vaccinated but I have been thinking about the timing of the hepB vac as well. I understand the CDC guidelines, etc, but I also think that it's just a way to make sure EVERY child gets the vaccine and the timing doesn't much matter? Like pp indicated, it may just be recommended that way because some parents aren't faithful about bringing in their child for dr visits and vacs after they leave the hospital. If it makes no difference at all if it's instantly after birth vs a week later, I'm not sure what I'll choose.

CaliforniaDream87 · July 2015

lbeach5885 said:

Miz_Liz said:
Based on the CDC's website, the risk of chronic infection is related to the age at the time of exposure/infection - infants being more likely to develop a chronic infection if exposed. I know you are not anti-vax, but may I ask why you are against the baby getting this at time of birth when the CDC/Dr's recommend it? I hear a lot of people wanting to delay this vaccine and I just don't understand the logic behind it? To me, there are reasons for the vaccine schedule and if I trust in vaccines enough (which I def. do) and trust in my Dr's, I don't see a need to stray from the schedule. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/
Yep. Yep. Yep.

Exactly this.

aveline8 · July 2015

Fwiw, I don't believe that this is done in Canada. The only shot given immediately post-birth is vitamin k. Hep B vaccine is started with the first dose in grade 5 or 6 I believe. I personally think if the timing concerns you and YOU know that you're committed to having your children vaccinated, it probably is not a big deal to delay it, esp if your pediatrician/GP is on board and will start the series later. But I am not a medical expert....

MissusTexas · July 2015

We are pro-vax but delaying this one shot until her first pedi appointment. We have family medicine and OB doctors in the family who also think the CDC guideline is outdated and waited to give the shot to their kids.

ElleMF728 · July 2015

ambercdc said:

Let me start by saying we are 100% pro vax, and baby girl will be getting all vaccines. I am just having a hard time wrapping my mind around giving an infant the hep b vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Is anyone else struggling with this? I want her to have this vaccine, my husband and i have both had it for travel. Hep b is only transmitted though sexual activity or direct blood to blood contact. Or if the mom delivering has it, which we know I do not. We had the vaccine for travel in case we ended up in hospital care in a third world country. I don't think we need to worry about transmission in a hospital in the US die to unsterile needles, etc. Why subject a newborn to the chemicals in this vaccine right away instead of waiting a few weeks or months? Would love to hear opinions either way. I definitely don't want to put baby girl or the public at risk due to declining, but I just don't understand why this particular vaccine is given so early.

This is what the CDC says about Hep B.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hepb/fs-parents.html

It is not only sexual transmitted or only transmitted through blood transfusion and in fact, the virus can live on objects for up to 7 days.

taylorharber1108 · July 2015

We are not doing the hep b vaccine after birth. You may want to talk to your pediatrician about it. If we had chose to do the vaccine it would be an extra vaccatination. He would end up having two or three doses. ( I don't remember the exact schedule)

Saratiff · July 2015

We will following the cdc recs. I can't control everything in her life. Thank god for vaccines.

sjra1028 · July 2015

My husband originally wanted to delay our daughter's vaccinations. I want to keep her on the doctor's schedule for her immunizations. Since she was born premature, my husband has since changed his mind. Our lil girl had her hep b at the hospital the day she was discharged, but she was also 15 days old at that point.

Lalala2326 · July 2015

I'm delaying till our first actual doctor's appt. I had my daughter get it in the hospital, but I just don't think its necessary there. I have to have a c-section, so the whole birth experience is already a little more abrupt. We had a lot of nursing issues, and she was very cranky the first several days. I know after her other rounds of shots, she was always pretty cranky for a a few days. I just don't see the point in putting the next baby through vaccine effects the first few days when we are trying to get nursing established and such. My daughter's pedi is 100% on board with us delaying till the first doctor's appt, so I'm happy with that decision this time. Otherwise we always follow normal vaccine schedule.

GirlOnTheBeach · July 2015

Our hospital doesn't administer the Hep B vaccine to infants, they tell parents to have the child's pediatrician do it at their next appointment. The only meds a healthy baby receives at our hospital are the vitamin K shot and the antibiotic eye drops. DH and I will likely be holding off on the Hep B vaccine for a while. LO will receive his other vaccines though.

acorlew201 · July 2015

ambercdc said:
Let me start by saying we are 100% pro vax, and baby girl will be getting all vaccines.

I am just having a hard time wrapping my mind around giving an infant the hep b vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Is anyone else struggling with this?

I want her to have this vaccine, my husband and i have both had it for travel. Hep b is only transmitted though sexual activity or direct blood to blood contact. Or if the mom delivering has it, which we know I do not.

We had the vaccine for travel in case we ended up in hospital care in a third world country. I don't think we need to worry about transmission in a hospital in the US die to unsterile needles, etc.

Why subject a newborn to the chemicals in this vaccine right away instead of waiting a few weeks or months? Would love to hear opinions either way.

I definitely don't want to put baby girl or the public at risk due to declining, but I just don't understand why this particular vaccine is given so early.

The only issue I see here is that you are not concerned about transmission in a U.S. hospital. Obviously we are cleaner and have better regulations than third world countries BUT I work in a hospital and I know first hand that accidents happen and even though we would like everything to be perfect and clean and sterile it just isn't always. There is still a risk of getting it even if your baby isn't getting blood transfusions or if you don't have it. We have babies contract all sorts of crazy things and we sometimes have no idea how they got them. I work in peds as a nurse and it still blows my minds that babies less than a month old come in with some of the diseases they have. I don't think waiting until the first appointment is going to dramatically increase your babies risk because the first dr appt is about 2-3 days after hospital discharge but I would just remember hospitals aren't perfect and 100% safe either!

hclzmm14 · July 2015

acorlew201 said:

ambercdc said:
Let me start by saying we are 100% pro vax, and baby girl will be getting all vaccines.

I am just having a hard time wrapping my mind around giving an infant the hep b vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Is anyone else struggling with this?

I want her to have this vaccine, my husband and i have both had it for travel. Hep b is only transmitted though sexual activity or direct blood to blood contact. Or if the mom delivering has it, which we know I do not.

We had the vaccine for travel in case we ended up in hospital care in a third world country. I don't think we need to worry about transmission in a hospital in the US die to unsterile needles, etc.

Why subject a newborn to the chemicals in this vaccine right away instead of waiting a few weeks or months? Would love to hear opinions either way.

I definitely don't want to put baby girl or the public at risk due to declining, but I just don't understand why this particular vaccine is given so early.
The only issue I see here is that you are not concerned about transmission in a U.S. hospital. Obviously we are cleaner and have better regulations than third world countries BUT I work in a hospital and I know first hand that accidents happen and even though we would like everything to be perfect and clean and sterile it just isn't always. There is still a risk of getting it even if your baby isn't getting blood transfusions or if you don't have it. We have babies contract all sorts of crazy things and we sometimes have no idea how they got them. I work in peds as a nurse and it still blows my minds that babies less than a month old come in with some of the diseases they have. I don't think waiting until the first appointment is going to dramatically increase your babies risk because the first dr appt is about 2-3 days after hospital discharge but I would just remember hospitals aren't perfect and 100% safe either!

Good point!

Starynightsky24 · July 2015

We are delaying till her 1mo check up. I don't want her have it till BFing is established. The side effects are the same as any other shot and the last thing I want to add to her birth experience is a slight fever or achy injection site. I always had a hard time getting DS to nurse after shots. From 2mo to 9mo it was awful. So I just feel better that way. Breastfeeding is hard enough on its own.

4foxsake · July 2015

I was under the impression that the only reason babies in the US are given hep b at birth is because the hospital can't be 100% sure of the hep b status of the mother, so they just give the shot to all babies to cover everyones ass. My pediatrician said its not necssary at birth, so we will be delaying this vaccine. Most other developed countries only give hep b vaccines to high risk infants.

jesselayne8 · July 2015

I waited until the 2 week appointment with my first 2 kids and will do the same with this baby.

tmeranda95 · July 2015

The Hepatitis b vaccine contains 250 micrograms of aluminum. The CDC and FDA have determines anything over 4-5micrograms per kg of body weight of aluminum a day is considered to be toxic... that would mean that 250 micrograms in ONE injection, would be 12.5 X the toxic amount of aluminum for an 8lb baby. I, personally, cannot feel safe injecting that intramuscularly into my newborn baby. Especially because hep b can only be spread through blood, semen, or vaginal fluid and husband and i are both clean so why would it even be necessary at that age. Ill honestly probably delay the hep b vaccine until he is at least old enough to tell me if it's making him feel funny, or his throat itchy or swollen or whatever. I cant take the chance of my newborn having an adverse reaction or aluminium toxicity.

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