Hepatitis B Vaccination

Vaccination schedule

A series of 3 injections of vaccine is recommended to achieve optimal protection against hepatitis B infection. It is generally well tolerated for people of all ages. The schedule is as follows:

• first injection: at elected date,
  
  
• second injection: at least 1 month later,
  
  
• third injection: at least 2 months after second.

Recommendations

Persons at high risk should receive pre-exposure hepatitis B immunisation. These include:

• Health care and public safety workers who perform works involving contacts with blood or body-fluids;
  
  
• Injecting drug users;
  
  
• Sexually active persons, either homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual;
  
  
• Haemodialysis patients or patients with blood disorders who receive blood products;
  
  
• Household contacts and sexual partners of HBV carriers;
  
  
• Infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers;
  
  
• Those had percutaneous or mucous membrane exposures to blood that might contain HBsAg; and
  
  
• International travellers planning to spend more than 6 months in HBV endemic areas.

Adverse reactions

It is generally well tolerated. Common side effects include local pain over the injection sites, fatigue, muscle pain, fever, nausea, diarrhoea and headache. Serious hypersensitivity reactions including oedema, shortness of breath, chest discomfort or palpitations are uncommon, and occurred within the first few hours after vaccination.

Contraindications

Those who have hypersensitivity to yeast or any other component of the vaccine should not receive the vaccine.