Hepatitis B and C. Am I immune?

Question

When I was a child I had Hepatitis... I cannot remember much about it. My parents told me I was all yellowish and couldn't eat a d**n thing.

I was wondering if I am immune to the "new" kinds of hepatitis (Like B or C) I'm not sure if I should vaccinate against those diseases.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If you had it as a newborn then it wasn't hepatits, it was neonatal jaundice, a common disorder affecting newborns due to the changes associated with the beginning of life.

If it was a one time incident earlier in life I would suspect you had hepatitis A, which is an acute viral infection causing liver inflammation, the body usually overcomes the infection and returns to normal  Hepatitis B can sometimes acutely present like this, but Hep B and C are usually chronic long term infections manifesting years later in life.

There are vaccinations available to A and B, not C.  A doctor can do tests on your immunity to these viruses to detect whether you've been exposed, if you're chronically infected, or you're immune.  

Answer 2

Your doctor can do a blood test to let you know which types of hepatitis you're immune to.  You likely only have antibodies to the type that you were infected with.