Hepatitis A Vaccine (cont.)

Some People Should Not Get the Hepatitis A Vaccine or Should Wait.

• Anyone who has ever had a severe (life-threatening) allergic reaction to a previous dose of hepatitis A vaccine should not get another dose.
• Anyone who has a severe (life threatening) allergy to any vaccine component should not get the vaccine. Tell your doctor if you have anysevere allergies. All hepatitis A vaccines contain alum and some hepatitis A vaccines contain 2-phenoxyethanol.
• Anyone who is moderately or severely ill at the time the shot is scheduled should probably wait until they recover. Ask your doctor or nurse. People with a mild illness can usually get the vaccine.
• Tell your doctor if you are pregnant. The safety of hepatitis A vaccine for pregnant women has not been determined. But there is no evidence that it is harmful to either pregnant women or their unborn babies. The risk, if any, is thought to be very low.

What Are the Risks from Hepatitis A Vaccine?

A vaccine, like any medicine, could possibly cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of hepatitis A vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small.

Getting hepatitis A vaccine is much safer than getting the disease.

Mild Problems

• soreness where the shot was given (about 1 out of 2 adults, and up to 1 out of 6 children)
• headache (about 1 out of 6 adults and 1 out of 25 children)
• loss of appetite (about 1 out of 12 children)
• tiredness (about 1 out of 14 adults)

If these problems occur, they usually last 1 or 2 days.

Severe Problems

• serious allergic reaction, within a few minutes to a few hours of the shot (very rare)

SOURCE:

Centers for Disease Control