RE: Tell me about Hepatitis B vaccine - pros and cons...
Jeanne, that's a great list. Thanks for posting it. I also had a young college student go into fulminant hepatic failure after contracting Hep B from a tattoo needle. Unfortunately, she didn't get her new liver.
Vaccine schedules are made with the population as a whole in mind. Most infants in this country are probably not at high risk. However, the Hep B series is three shots, spaced over six months time. When kids get older, they just don't go to the doctor's office that much. So if the shots are moved later, the plain fact is that many many children will slip through the cracks and not get the vaccine. Public health recommendations are made to get the greatest number of people vaccinated with a minimum of resource use.
If anyone wants to say "Well and good, but I will make sure to take my child in for the three shots when they're older, but not old enough that I need to worry about sexual activity or other blood borne contact, and if my insurance won't pay for three regular visits when the kid is ten, then I'll pay for them out of pocket" I think that's your prerogative. For me, I wanted to make sure my son was vaccinated, and by following the recommended schedule it was one less thing I had to worry about.
Katie, Mom to two boys
Retraining my dopamine circuits thanks to David Kessler, MD.
Jonathan: Halloween 2004
Alex: A smidge past Groundhog Day 2007