Do you know if you are at risk to get hepatitis B or if you need a hepatitis B vaccine?
With the latest recommendations, you don’t need to be at high risk to be vaccinated and protected against hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a vaccine preventable disease that is caused by the hepatitis B virus, which can cause both acute and chronic liver disease.
“WHO estimates that 254 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B infection in 2022, with 1.2 million new infections each year.”
Hepatitis B Key Facts
It is that chronic liver disease that we are most concerned about, as it can be life threatening, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
You Could Be at Risk to Get Hepatitis B
Unfortunately, many people don’t know that they are at risk to get hepatitis B or that they even have it!
How can that be?
“About 1 in 2 people with hepatitis B do not know they are infected.”
Hepatitis B Basics
Many people with chronic hepatitis B don’t have symptoms until they get older.
“Hepatitis B is primarily spread when blood, semen, or certain other body fluids – even in microscopic amounts – from a person infected with HBV enter the body of someone who is not infected.”
Hepatitis B Prevention and Control
But even without symptoms, they can still pass the virus to others without knowing.
Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination Plan for Adults
And since there is no cure for hepatitis B, even if you have few or no high risk factors, because your risk isn’t zero and there is a safe and effective vaccine with few side effects, you might want to get vaccinated and protected.
“In addition to groups for whom HepB vaccination is already recommended, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that all adults aged 19–59 years should receive HepB vaccines.”
Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination in Adults Aged 19–59 Years: Updated Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2022
In fact, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) now recommends that all adults who weren’t vaccinated as children, now get vaccinated and protected against hepatitis B!
And adults 60 years and over with risk factors should also get vaccinated.
All adults?
Why can’t we just vaccinate those adults who are at high risk to get hepatitis B?
“HepB vaccination coverage among adults with risk factors has been suboptimal.”
Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination in Adults Aged 19–59 Years: Updated Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2022
Just vaccinating high risk people had long been the policy.
It didn’t work.
A universal recommendation for adults, like we have for children, should work better to get everyone vaccinated and protected and decrease cases of chronic liver disease, liver cancer, and hepatitis B deaths.
More on Hepatitis B
- Did Hepatitis B Deaths Increase After the Hepatitis B Vaccine Was Introduced?
- Did Your Hepatitis B Antibody Test Come Back Negative?
- What to Do If Your Child Is Exposed to Hepatitis B
- Don’t Skip Your Baby’s Hepatitis B Shot
- Do Preemies Frequently Crash After They Get Their Hep B Shot?
- First Day Deaths and the Hepatitis B Vaccine
- Are More People Dying of Viral Hepatitis?
- CDC – Hepatitis B Basics
- CDC – Hepatitis B Prevention and Control
- WHO – Hepatitis B Key Facts
- Reactivation with Hepatitis B: Understanding Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies
- ACIP – Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination in Adults Aged 19–59 Years: Updated Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2022
- ACIP – Evidence to Recommendations Framework:
Should all HepB-unvaccinated adults receive
hepatitis B vaccination? - Hepatitis B Incidence In Children Falls Under 1%, Reaching 2020 Target
- Why We Vaccinate Babies Against Hepatitis B
- Why Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination Isn’t Quite Universal
Last Updated on July 3, 2024
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