How safe is the vaccine?
Hepatitis B vaccine is very safe. Mild transient side effects that may occur after vaccination include: – Soreness at the injection site (3 to 9 percent) – Fatigue, headache, and irritability (8 to 18 percent) – Fever higher than 37.7 C (0.4 to 8 percent) These transient signs/symptoms usually start within 1 day after the vaccine is given and last from 1 to 3 days. When given at the same time as DTP vaccine, the rate of fever and/or irritability is no higher than when DTP vaccine is given alone. Serious allergic reactions to the vaccine (hives, difficulty in breathing, shock) are rare.
Hepatitis B vaccine is very safe. Mild transient side effects that may occur after vaccination include: Soreness at the injection site (3 to 9 percent) Fatigue, headache, and irritability (8 to 18 percent) Fever higher than 37.7 C (0.4 to 8 percent) These transient signs/symptoms usually start within 1 day after the vaccine is given and last from 1 to 3 days. When given at the same time as DTP vaccine, the rate of fever and/or irritability is no higher than when DTP vaccine is given alone. Serious allergic reactions to the vaccine (hives, difficulty in breathing, shock) are rare.
Since 1995 over 40 million doses have been distributed in the USA.6The vaccine has been shown to be safe in healthy children.7 If reactions occur, they are usually limited to fever or local reactions at the injection site. Skin rash occurs in about 7% of healthy vaccinees, either at the injection site or more generalised, and may be vesicular.1,8 Rashes caused by the vaccine usually appear approximately three weeks after immunisation. There is a small potential to transmit the vaccine virus at this time, mainly from direct contact with vesicles at the injection site.1 Vaccinated individuals appear not to be able to transmit the vaccine virus by the respiratory route, and papules (as opposed to vesicles) at the injection site are rarely infectious. If a vesicular rash occurs following varicella zoster virus immunisation, it should be covered with a dressing and clothes if possible, careful handwashing should be encouraged, and the vaccinated individual should avoid contact with immunoco
