Hepatitis B vaccine
What is hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a serious viral disease that affects the liver. ‘Hepatitis’ means inflammation of the liver. While about 50 per cent of infected adults may show symptoms in the initial stage of hepatitis infection (the acute stage), young children often do not show any symptoms of the disease at all. Consequently, some people may have had hepatitis B without knowing it; however, blood tests are available to check for this.
What are the symptoms of hepatitis B?
The symptoms of acute illness resulting from hepatitis B infection may include jaundice (a yellowish discoloration of the eyes and skin), fever, nausea, vomiting, pale faeces, dark urine, a skin rash, or joint and muscle pain. There may also be pain in the upper right region of the abdomen. In a small percentage of cases, the infection may lead to progressive liver failure. However, some people experience no, or few, symptoms.
Carriers of the hepatitis B virus
Up to 10 per cent of infected adults and 90 per cent of infected newborns may carry the virus in their system for many years without even knowing it — they themselves often have no symptoms to alert them. Such ‘carriers’ of the disease pose a health risk to others by spreading the disease, as well as significantly increasing their own risk of developing hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) and primary liver cancer later in life.
It has been estimated that the carrier rate for hepatitis B in Australia is about 1 or 2 people in every thousand, although the carrier rate in some Aboriginal populations is considerably higher (1 to 5 per cent).
How is hepatitis B spread?
Hepatitis B is found in bodily fluids such as blood, saliva and semen of carriers without symptoms as well as those showing symptoms of the disease. It can be transmitted in a number of different ways, including:
- contaminated needles and syringes (either during injecting drug use or through needle stick injuries);
- sexual intercourse (especially anal sex);
- mother-to-newborn infection during the birthing process;
- breastfeeding;
- blood-to-blood contact (through open injuries);
- contact between children with open sores;
- non-sterile instruments such as those used for body piercing and tattooing; or, to a lesser extent,
- sharing personal items that could break the skin, such as toothbrushes or razors.
How can hepatitis B be prevented?
The most effective way of preventing the spread of hepatitis B is through vaccination. All children are eligible for free vaccination in Australia through their GP or community health centre.
Vaccination is especially important in the following high-risk groups:
- people such as health care workers, emergency services personnel, police or embalmers who may be exposed to the virus as a result of their occupation;
- residents and staff of facilities for people with intellectual disabilities;
- inmates and staff of correctional facilities;
- injecting drug users;
- people undergoing haemodialysis, people with HIV and other adults with impaired immunity;
- people with clotting disorders that require them to receive blood product concentrates;
- people with hepatitis C or other chronic liver disease;
- liver transplant recipients;
- people who have prolonged household contact with a carrier of the disease;
- people at risk of contracting the disease through sex with an infected person;
- infants in ethnic groups where the carrier rate of hepatitis B is greater than 2 per cent, or people adopting children from overseas; and
- babies born to carrier mothers.
Australia has adopted the National Health and Medical Research Council’s recommendation to promote wider hepatitis B vaccination among infants and adolescents. This move is part of a long-term strategy to reduce the illness and death caused by the virus, and to ultimately eliminate it from the country.
In 1997, Australia introduced a hepatitis B vaccination programme aimed at adolescents aged 10-13 years. Subsequently, the immunisation schedule was revised to recommend that all babies born on or after 1 May 2000 be vaccinated against the disease, starting at birth.
When should my child be vaccinated?
The National Immunisation Program Schedule recommends that the first hepatitis B vaccination is given at birth. Three further doses are then administered at 2, 4, and 6 or 12 months. These are given in combination with other routine immunisations, so that no additional jabs are required. Because the immunity is long lasting, the child will not require further hepatitis B vaccination when they reach adolescence.
However, children born before 1 May 2000 should be vaccinated when they are between the ages of 10 and 13.
What are the risks?
The most common side effects of the vaccination are soreness around the injection area, slight fever, joint pain or a feeling of being unwell. However, the risks of not immunising your child are much greater, as hepatitis B is a serious disease with potentially life-threatening consequences.
Last Reviewed: 21 October 2009
- 1. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, National Health and Medical Research Council [website]. The Australian Immunisation Handbook, 9th Edition. 3.6 Hepatitis B (updated 2008, Mar 26). http://immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/Handbook-hepatitisb (accessed 2009, Oct 30)
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