Two Hepatitis B Vaccines?

Question

So my son's pediatrician doesn't do shots, so we have to take him to a clinic to get them. They called me the other day to inform me that his last Hep B(his last one) wasn't valid. They say he got it a month earlier than he should...and now they want to give him another one. I've set an appointment with the pediatrician to talk about it, but that's next week. I just wanted the opinions of other mommies. He's 27 months old, by the way.

Does anyone know if doing this will harm him in any way? It just doesn't sound right to me, you know?

Answer 1

Hi,

Since people are only answering your questions with their own personal opinions, I hope what I leave here helps.  I have the same dilemma as you and others don't understand what we're going through if your baby needs the immunizations (for the IDIOT who asked if your baby is having g*y s*x--and to think, she's a mom, too).

My son was born 03/17/2008 and he had his HBV and HBIG shots within 12 hrs after birth.  He then needed his 2nd and 3rd shots at his 2 month and 6 month ped. visit, respectively.  Although I didn't know this at the time, most newborns coming into the ped's office without ever have received the initial HBV shot given at the local hospitals.  Because of this, the ped. nurse automatically counted his 2nd month vaccine as his "first" shot.  So at his 4 month visit, she gave him what she thought to be his "2nd" shot which, in reality, was now his 3rd shot.  I even had my son's (hospital) immunization card with me at every visit and my husband and I were very adamant about making sure he received his HBV vaccine at his initial ped's visit and his 2-month old visit.  I was by myself at the 4-month checkup where he received his 3rd shot which the nurse perceived to be only his 2nd.  Why they didn't pay attention to his card is beyond me.  However, I'm partly at fault because I didn't even think to question him getting it at this visit.  I forgot it should be done at 6 months and not at 4 months old.  The nurse dates each shot given and it's also got the hospital staff initials with his birth shots.  Everything was on my son's card which I showed the nurse each time.

Luckily, the hospital forgot to send my son's info on his birth shot to our local county Health Dept (which the HD here requires).  The HD knew that my son would need his shots and the HD nurse sent me a letter asking if my son ever had his shots, either at the hospital or at a ped's office.  When I told her he had, she mentioned that maybe her counterpart at the hospital forgot to send her the info as she's usually on top of those things.  I also told her when my son had his shots and that's when she started to question the third shot.  She asked me if I knew whether it was a single or combination (combined with other vaccines into one shot) when given.  I told her I didn't know and to please help me out with the ped's office as I was getting confused because I didn't know there were two ways of giving the HBV vaccine.  It seems that the ped's office shouldn't have given him his 3rd shot already but that it wouldn't matter as they need to be spaced out to be most effective--not because he is getting too much vaccine.  The HD nurse said that she would discuss with my son's ped. about checking the "red book", whatever that means.  I don't know if that is something that is national or if it's just a local resource manual.  My son's next appt (6 month visit) is mid-Sept and, believe me, he will be getting his next vaccine.  The first link explains what I'm talking about (see the 4th paragraph):

http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-ar...

Here are some links with others that have had the same concern--so we're not alone:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pediatrics-14...

The primary advantage of giving the first dose at birth vs. at the ped's office is saving lives vs. administrative convenience.  Or maybe the ped's office is treating their first shot given as the "birth" shot to make sure that all babies have the protection they need--in case they should've received the birth dose but didn't:

http://www.immunize.org/birthdose/letter...

And unless some of the other responders are familiar with HBV, the consequences and who does need the vaccine more than who doesn't need the vaccine, their voices are really of no concern in this discussion:

http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromot...

HBV is an endemic in China and other parts of Asia with a high number of Chinese immigrants in major U.S. cities having it.  BTW, in 1992 the World Health Assembly (WHO) passed a resolution to recommend global vaccination against HBV.  The majority of people here in the U.S. wouldn't even know if they have HBV or if they've ever been exposed to it because insurance companies don't usually pay for routine testing for this because THEY believe that there aren't enough people in the U.S. with it.  I've known people who have found out they're either infected or have been infected (but, luckily, it cleared their bodies) only because COMPLETE tests were ordered for other medical problems.  Blame should be placed on insurance companies--not the doctors!

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheet...

Answer 2

You DON"T need to have ANY vaccines done!  They cause more harm than catching any of the illnesses could do and the vaccines don't work or provide immunity!!   What the health department is going to do is OVER VACCINATE your child!!  Most doctors and pediatricians lie or avoid the truth about vaccines b/c they want the $$ that comes with you having to bring your child in after the have a vaccine reaction.  Keeping your kids naturally healthy by avoiding vaccines, eating properly and living in sanitary conditions keeps your child away from the doctors which is bad for THEIR pockets!

All states have medical exemptions, all but 2  have religious exemptions (religion is defined as a strong personal belief) and a numerous states have philosophical exemptions.

Check out these links:

http://nvic.org/   <----this is where you will learn the REAL risk of your child contracting any of the so called *vaccine preventable diseases*

http://www.vaclib.org/    <----this is where you can obtain waiver information for your state

http://www.novaccine.com/vaccine-ingredi...   <----this has a detailed list of all the ingredients in vaccines and what they do to the body

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/package_ins...  <---- this will allow you to look at each vaccine package insert that you can get from anyone administering the vaccine.

Read the book, "Vaccines: Are they Really Safe and Effective?" By Neil Z. Miller and decide for yourself. It's only about 100 pages with charts. You can buy it off amazon.com for cheap.

****It quotes data from the Center for Disease Control, American Medical Association & numerous medical journals and reports such as the New England Medical Journal. It has over 900 references to reknown medical publications and/or medical professionals.****

I just finished reading it and I am confident in my decision to NEVER vaccinate any of my children.

He also has a book called "Vaccine Safety Manual: For Concerned Families and Health Professionals" that I will be reading next.

Do the research before you allow someone to inject these KNOWN poisons into YOUR child.  Your son's pediatrician doesn't do shots for a reason.  Know your rights, know the facts!  Here are some yahoo groups that have a ton of info on vaccines for people AND pets.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Vac...

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Truth...

From this website: http://nvic.org/Diseases/hepbnlr.htm

Following is a general overview of what is and is not known about hepatitis B disease, the hepatitis B vaccine and the politics of hepatitis B vaccination.

Hepatitis B Not Highly Contagious - Unlike other infectious diseases for which vaccines have been developed and mandated in the U.S., hepatitis B is not common in childhood and is not highly contagious. Hepatitis B is primarily an adult disease transmitted through infected body fluids, most frequently infected blood, and is prevalent in high risk populations such as needle using drug addicts; sexually promiscuous heterosexual and homosexual adults; residents and staff of custodial institutions such as prisons; health care workers exposed to blood; persons who require repeated blood transfusions and babies born to infected mothers.

According to CDC Prevention Guidelines: A Guide to Action (1997), a book written by federal public health officials at the U.S. government Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "the sources of [hepatitis B] infection for most cases include intravenous drug use (28%), heterosexual contact with infected persons or multiple partners (22%) and homosexual activity (9%)." According to Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (1994), mother to child transmission of hepatitis B "is uncommon in North America and western Europe."

Although CDC officials have made statements that hepatitis B is easy to catch through sharing toothbrushes or razors, Eric Mast, M.D., Chief of the Surveillance Section, Hepatitis Branch of the CDC, stated in a 1997 public hearing that: " although [the hepatitis B virus] is present in moderate concentrations in saliva, it's not transmitted commonly by casual contact."

Hepatitis B Not A Killer Disease For Most - Symptoms of hepatitis B disease include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, low grade fever, pain and swelling in joints, headache and cough that may occur one to two weeks before the onset of jaundice (yellowing of the skin) and enlargement and tenderness of the liver, which can last for three to four weeks. Fatigue can last up to a year. According to Harrison's, in cases of acute hepatitis B "most patients do not require hospital care" and "95 percent of patients have a favorable course and recover completely" with the case-fatality ratio being "very low (approximately 0.1 percent)."

Those who recover completely from hepatitis B infection acquire life-long immunity. Of those who do not recover completely, fewer than 5 percent become chronic carriers of the virus with just one quarter of these in danger of developing life threatening liver disease later in life, according to Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease (1994), a medical college textbook.

The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services (1996), written under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), states that the risk of developing a chronic hepatitis B infection is higher in infected infants than in infected older children and adults: "Infections during infancy, while estimated to represent only 1-3% of cases, account for 20-30% of chronic infections." Because infants born to infected mothers are at highest risk for developing chronic hepatitis B infections, routine screening of pregnant women for hepatitis B infection is one of the most important public health measures that can be taken to prevent chronic hepatitis B carriers. The Merck Manual (1992), a major medical reference used by physicians, notes that "postexposure vaccination is recommended for newborn infants of hepatitis B positive mothers."

Hepatitis B Low In U.S. - The U.S. and western Europe have always had among the lowest rates of hepatitis B disease in the world (0.1% to 0.5% of the general population) compared to countries in the Far East and Africa, where the disease affects 5-20% or more of the population. According to Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, in the U.S. "the greatest reported incidence [of hepatitis B] occurs in adults aged 20-39" and "the number of cases peaked in 1985 and has shown a continuous gradual decline since that time."

Even though hepatitis B disease is uncommon in the general population in the U.S., it continues to be high among those engaged in high-risk behaviors, especially IV drug use. Guide to Clinical Preventive Services states that "In recent years, a growing number of injection drug users have become infected; currently, between 60% and 80% of persons who use illicit drugs parenterally (through the skin such as with a needle stick) have serologic evidence of [hepatitis B] infection."

In 1991, there were 18,003 cases of hepatitis B reported in the U.S. out of a total U.S. population of 248 million. According to the October 31, 1997 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the CDC, in 1996 there were 10,637 cases of hepatitis B reported in the U.S. with 279 cases reported in children under the age of 14 and the CDC stated that "Hepatitis B continues to decline in most states, primarily because of a decrease in the number of cases among injecting drug users and, to a lesser extent, among both homosexuals and heterosexuals of both sexes."

......

Hep B Vaccine Licensed By FDA Without Adequate Proof of Long Term Safety - In 1986, the FDA gave Merck & Co. a license to market the first recombinant DNA hepatitis B vaccine, which replaced the old hepatitis B vaccines made from blood taken from human chronic hepatitis B virus carriers. In awarding Merck & Co. and, later, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, licenses to market their genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccines in the U.S., the FDA allowed both drug companies to use "safety" studies which only included a few thousand children monitored for only four or five days after vaccination to check for reactions. As "proof" their hepatitis B vaccine is safe to be used in children, Merck & Co. stated in their 1993 product insert that "In a group of studies, 1636 doses of RECOMBIVAX HB were administered to 653 healthy infants and children (up to 10 years of age) who were monitored for 5 days after each dose."

Merck & Co. found that injection site and systemic complaints, such as fatigue and weakness, fever, headache and arthralgia (joint pain), were reported following up to 17 percent of all hepatitis B injections. Because the FDA did not require drug companies to provide scientific evidence that hepatitis B vaccine does not compromise the immune and neurological systems of children and adults over weeks, months or years post-vaccination, Merck & Co. warns in the 1996 product insert that "As with any vaccine, there is the possibility that broad use of the vaccine could reveal adverse reactions not observed in clinical trials" and SmithKline Beecham (1993) has a similar warning that "it is possible that expanded commercial use of the vaccine could reveal rare adverse reactions.

Another warning in the Merck 1996 product insert is "it is also not known whether the vaccine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity" and "it is not known whether the vaccine is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are secreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when the vaccine is administered to a nursing woman."

...

Answer 3

No, it won't hurt him any. My daughter ended up having two, because we had to switch pediatricians for insurance purposes, but then we got to switch back, and both had given it to her. The first one was also considered invalid because it was early. She was only 15 months when it happened, so I was po'd and worried, but I discussed it at length with her better pedi and she said it was fine.

Good luck!  

Answer 4

Why are you getting him the Hep B vaccine. Is he an IV drug user? Having g*y s*x?

Do your research. 27 month old children do not need this vaccine.

Answer 5

I don't think it will, i have mine every 3-5years I'm a dental nurse and i don't have a very good resistance(by 3-5yrs my levels always come down), they say now some people can have 1 there whole life and have a total resistance. also if hes had a blood test (normally exactly 1mth to the date after the shot) its the only way to check the Hep B tile resistance

I have 17mth old twins and I know for a fact Hep B would do a lot more damage than the shot, its given to some babies at birth to protect from mums who have Hep B!

and some ans r just going to be against vaccines!!! Hep B can kill, cause serious liver damage that will result in death!!! That's why all medical staff  are required to have it!!!! I am in the UK and not insured to work unless I'm covered, so yeah years of illness through ur liver failing is very painful, trust me been there!!!! Through my pregnancy i almost died through my liver! but yeah a sharp prick is gonna do loads of harm???? The only probable risk is a reaction and u know she has not had that, some people annoy me they should look up the rates of children who don't get vaccines who die, its a lot higher than the kids who do have vaccines, my twins have had every jab they can to me its being responsible and protecting them in every way i can!!!!!

Answer 6

That DOESN'T sound right to me.  In fact, if they gave him the shot early that could harm him, because if the strength. I wouldn't do it. I would talk to your doc or get a second opinion! Injecting too much of that stuff TOO soon can lead to a lot of illness or possibly death. BAD BAD idea!