Hepatitis B Vaccine (cont.)

Who should NOT get the hepatitis B vaccine?

• Anyone with a life-threatening allergy to baker's yeast, or to any other component of the vaccine, should not get hepatitis B vaccine. Tell your provider if you have any severe allergies.
• Anyone who has had a life-threatening allergic reaction to a previous dose of hepatitis B vaccine should not get another dose.
• Anyone who is moderately or severely ill when a dose of vaccine is scheduled should probably wait until they recover before getting the vaccine.

Your provider can give you more information about these precautions.

Pregnant women who need protection from HBV infection may be vaccinated.

Hepatitis B vaccine risks

Hepatitis B is a very safe vaccine. Most people do not have any problems with it.

The following mild problems have been reported:

• Soreness where the shot was given (up to about 1 person in 4).
• Temperature of 99.9°F or higher (up to about 1 person in 15).

Severe problems are extremely rare. Severe allergic reactions are believed to occur about once in 1.1 million doses.

A vaccine, like any medicine, could cause a serious reaction. But the risk of a vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small. More than 100 million people have gotten hepatitis B vaccine in the United States.

SOURCES:

Centers for Disease Control