Is it OK to get the Hepatitis B vaccine TWICE?

[Logix]

...because I'm about to get the shots again for the second time in about three years.

I'm ever so mildly concerned because the vaccine is the actual virus, of course, but weakened.

Here's the story if anyone cares: I was a volunteer at a local hospital several years ago, and they offered the Hepatitis B vaccine (those series of three shots) for free, so I got them. Well, here it is three years later, and I need proof of having gotten the vaccine for my school, but the hospital doesn't have any records, and neither do I.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to get the first shot again. This isn't going to be a booster shot either, it'll be the full vaccine again.

So, anyone a doctor here, or know anything about this?

Thanks.

 

[wfbberzerker]

when youre a kid, you get them three times (its really one vaccine, but it takes three shots spread out over a year or two)

 

[Superdoopercooper]

2 times is BAD!!!!! See the first time, you are immunized... then the second you are infected. So, by default you'll need to get them a 3rd time to become immunized again. hehehehee... It's kind of like multiplying negatives... negative, positive, negative, positive, etc.

J/K!!!!

I really don't know. You ought to call a doctor before you start letting them shoot you up with stuff.

 

[Fausto]

Nothing to worry about. I've had the Hep B twice in the space of a few years (first at biotech firm and then upon starting work in a lab over at Emory U).

Have them check your titer. If it's still high enough, you should be able to avoid the second vaccination. That you are producing the antibodies should be proof enough that you've been vaccinated.

Fausto

 

[rmblam]

<< Nothing to worry about. I've had the Hep B twice in the space of a few years (first at biotech firm and then upon starting work in a lab over at Emory U).

Have them check your titer. If it's still high enough, you should be able to avoid the second vaccination. That you are producing the antibodies should be proof enough that you've been vaccinated.

Fausto >>




Good one Fausto.


I had the same issue. While in Pharmacy school I had to get the Hep series.

Later on I didn't have the records and a titer confirmed my immunity.

They may want to do a booster anyway, if your titer is low.

My first shot in the series kicked my butt. It felt like someone kicked me repeatedly in the ribs. I was down for a day. When I awoke the next day I was fine.

 

[Fraggle]

take a look at the specifications on that health form you have to turn in for enrollment; titer results, accompanied by a physician's sig often does the trick. eitherway, if you're short on any other immunizations, maybe you can knock out a couple others in one trip (cept those that have complications now that you're grown up, eg. MMR for pregnant women, etc.)

 

[tcsenter]

<< I'm ever so mildly concerned because the vaccine is the actual virus, of course, but weakened. >>

The vaccine of choice for HBV in the United States for the last 10 years has been the recombinant synthesized HBV vaccine that contains no virus whatsoever. Just ask if the vaccine is the recombinant form. There should be no problem getting the vaccine twice in that small a time. You might have a more pronounced localized reaction.

<< Have them check your titer. If it's still high enough, you should be able to avoid the second vaccination. That you are producing the antibodies should be proof enough that you've been vaccinated. >>

The problem is that a titer only suggest the presence of antibodies, not where he got them. IOW, without proof that he received the HBV, a high titer might as well suggest he is a carrier of HBV. I went through the same run-around when my county health department lost my records. Had to get tested for HBV because my titers were high. I told them my titers were high because I was VACCINATED four years ago. They asked, "Can you prove that?" DOH!

 

[Logix]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'll ask a few questions tomorrow before the shot, but I expect an uneventful experience.


2 times is BAD!!!!! See the first time, you are immunized... then the second you are infected. So, by default you'll need to get them a 3rd time to become immunized again. hehehehee... It's kind of like multiplying negatives... negative, positive, negative, positive, etc.

J/K!!!!

Hehe, this is what one of my friends said and I responded, "But we're adding two negatives, not multiplying them, so I'll be -2 times susceptible!"