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Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,253
Registered: ‎03-15-2010

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?


@cherry wrote:

My husband just got one,  the pharmacist commented on all of the outbreaks, she has seen lately. It does seem like it really had spiraled around me.

 

Have you have any outbreaks in your area?  

 

I need to get a shot for it too, but I, also needed a tetanus shot, so I got that instead. I will get the  hep shot a bit later


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I think you're smart to get the tetanus shot because it's a lot easier to get that than it is to get hepatitis. Please let us know the effects of the hepatitis shot; I do have one (unusual) form of hep. but I may need to get vaccinated against A, B, and C. (I'm glad you brought this up because it never occurred to me that I might need additional vaccinations against the other 3 forms).

 

I think these outbreaks are increasing because a lot of people are coming into the country who haven't been vaccinated and too many parents refuse to vaccinate their children. I think they're criminally stupid and their unvaccinated children shouldn't be allowed into the public school system; their chances of starting an epidemic are high.

 

If the choose not to vaccinate on "religious" grounds (where does it say in the Bible "thou shalt not vaccinate they children"?) then I guess they'll have to try private schools (who probably won't let them in) or start home-schooling their kids.

 

I learned the hard way. When my son was about 11 years old he came down with SHINGLES because he'd been playing with a kid who had chicken pox. Since our son had chicken pox when he was 14 months old (and this was before there was a chicken pox vaccine) we never considered the thought of a vaccination. It was hell; my poor little baby came down with roseola (a not uncommon occurance among people who've had chicken pox) and ran a temperature of 106 degrees (at 2:00 am when my DH was out of town and I was so rattled I didn't think to give him a cool bath to get his temperature down.

 

My point: get every vaccination that's available to you and your children and of course consults with your doctor.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,258
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?


@mousiegirl wrote:

When the advertisements were coming out for people to be tested, DH said another way for the pharmaceutical companies to make money, because then there will be shots, etc.

 

I had my yearly blood panel last year, and afterward the doctor mentioned it and said I would be tested the next time, though I told her it wasn't necessary.  when I viewed my lab results, I had been tested, without my permission, do not think a test should be ordered without the patient's knowledge.  She never mentioned a shot, and I would not get one.


@mousiegirl

 

Something is going on with your doc.  If he/she suspects, per your lab results, that you have Hep A, B, or C, it is in your best interest that she have you tested for all 3 diseases.  However---If she did suspect this, she'd have you test right away.  So...this leads me to believe she's just feeding her patients into her practice's affiliated lab.

 

Since you said "No" and she went ahead anyway, you have a valid complaint for his/her practice to pick up the cost of that test.  Also, as it is/was with AIDS patients, you simply cannot order someone to be tested for AIDS without their knowledge.  It's against the law.  Though your test was not for AIDS, when a patients says "NO," a physician cannot skirt that directive.  There may also be a law in your state, and on your side, protecting you from such a physician ignoring your will.

 

Please have a heart-to-heart with your doc and tell him/her that what was done, was done against your specific order and was, therefore, "bad clinical practice," which is reportable and something for which you will take her to petty claims court for reimbursement.

 

As to your husband's statement, he's incorrect.  If you get tested and are found to have any of the heps, you will receive treatment .  If you refuse treatment, well, that would not be advisable.

 

Then he indicates that after the test you would get the shots - does he mean the vaccinations?  If it is determined that you do not have any of the heps, it would be a smart thing to get the Hep B series of vaccinations.  It is a set of 3 injections.  And, it's not drug company based.  This is me talking.  And I'm saying this because there are millions of people out there quite ill with hepatitis who don't give a fig how they infect other people.  They work in restaurants on the line and will spit in the food they are preparing, for one thing.  I know it's disgusting, but it happens all the time.  And, one of the filthiest things you can put your hands on is a shopping cart handle bar.  Ever see what people do with their hands while in a market:?  To the nose, mouth, eye, you name it, then the hands go back onto the shopping cart handle that you will grab next after they're done with it.  This is not to mention the surgical instruments (all inclusive) which are mishandled or placed into mal-functioning autoclaves or gas units.  I'll just stop there. 

 

Please do get the B series of injections.  We live in a nasty world.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,419
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?

I knew my husband got hep shots. Hep A while in military service, and the 3 shot Hep B thingy at work. His work this was a requirement for everyone, new or old working at his employer.

 

I thank you for giving me heads up on NO Hep C shot as of yet. I just remember all those Hep shots dh got over the past years. You are correct no C as of yet.

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 114
Registered: ‎05-25-2017

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?

I had both the A and B back in 2001. I was preparing to travel to Haiti with a missionary group. There is an outbreak of Hep A in our state. It actually started over in eastern Kentucky, then quickly moved into West Virginia. I saw a poster in our local Wal-Mart that said there was a statewide epidemic of Hep A in our state. If you wanted to get an immunization they were available at the pharmacy. Most of the cases seem to be people that work in fast food establishments. However, there's lots of IV drug use in Huntington and Charleston, WV.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,517
Registered: ‎06-17-2015

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?


@Drythe wrote:

I have had the vaccine for both Hep A and B because I work in health care, just teaching now, but once much more patient contact.  Both vaccines are a series of shots spaced out X amount of time apart.

 

There is no vaccine for Hep C.  We have been hearing about it a great deal recently because:

 

1) the CDC reported > 3,000 new cases last year,

2) the CDC estimates that there are at least 3.5 million people in the US who have active Hep C.

 

Hep C is not a likely result of “risky behavior”, but of exposure to blood and plasma and / or products used to treat other diseases.

 

 


@Drythe  75% of Hep c patients are baby boomers.  Since blood was not tested and sterilization controls of equipment were not as strict as they are today-it stands to reason that Hep C is found among boomers the most.

 

You are right about exposure to blood etc.

 

However, sharing needles with person who have Hep C is a risk factor today and certainly risky behavior.

 

 

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,373
Registered: ‎04-04-2015

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?


@maestra wrote:

 both Hep A and Hep B. and Shingles; also Tetanus.

 

 

A Hardees restaurant in Charlotte, NC had a cook who had Hep. A and exposed thousands to this disease. Free vaccines are being offered to folks who dined at this restaurant between recent dates.

 

I took the vaccines a few years ago as a prophylactic measure.


So how did he pass this on?  I thought we were told it could only be through fecal matter.  Did he not wash his hands - or is this more contagious than we were led to believe?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,739
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?

[ Edited ]

I think it was a courtesy call . We get all of our shots from Walgreens, with our Drs. approval. There has been such a huge amount of outbreaks in our area ,I am sure many people would rather be safe than sorry

 

My husband has been tired, and his muscles ache a bit ,but he wasn't sick @fuzzyface

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,739
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?

WARREN, Mich.— Michigan is in the throes of the largest hepatitis A outbreak in the USA, a flareup that began in August 2016 and has killed 27 people, state health officials say.

The hepatitis A virus, which attacks the liver, is highly contagious. Just ask Christopher L,46, of Grosse Pointe Park, who goes out to lunch most days with co-workers from the General Motors Tech Center here.

The father of three said he ate in March at the Buffalo Wild Wings across the road from his office. It's the same restaurant where a food worker later was found to have hepatitis A. 

Though he only suspects the source of his infection, Larime now is one of 837 people who have been sickened with the virus in the state. Last month, Indiana's Department of Health issued a travel alert warning Hoosiers planning to visit Michigan to get vaccinated before they come. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 38,157
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?


@sfnative wrote:

@mousiegirl wrote:

When the advertisements were coming out for people to be tested, DH said another way for the pharmaceutical companies to make money, because then there will be shots, etc.

 

I had my yearly blood panel last year, and afterward the doctor mentioned it and said I would be tested the next time, though I told her it wasn't necessary.  when I viewed my lab results, I had been tested, without my permission, do not think a test should be ordered without the patient's knowledge.  She never mentioned a shot, and I would not get one.


@mousiegirl

 

Something is going on with your doc.  If he/she suspects, per your lab results, that you have Hep A, B, or C, it is in your best interest that she have you tested for all 3 diseases.  However---If she did suspect this, she'd have you test right away.  So...this leads me to believe she's just feeding her patients into her practice's affiliated lab.

 

Since you said "No" and she went ahead anyway, you have a valid complaint for his/her practice to pick up the cost of that test.  Also, as it is/was with AIDS patients, you simply cannot order someone to be tested for AIDS without their knowledge.  It's against the law.  Though your test was not for AIDS, when a patients says "NO," a physician cannot skirt that directive.  There may also be a law in your state, and on your side, protecting you from such a physician ignoring your will.

 

Please have a heart-to-heart with your doc and tell him/her that what was done, was done against your specific order and was, therefore, "bad clinical practice," which is reportable and something for which you will take her to petty claims court for reimbursement.

 

As to your husband's statement, he's incorrect.  If you get tested and are found to have any of the heps, you will receive treatment .  If you refuse treatment, well, that would not be advisable.

 

Then he indicates that after the test you would get the shots - does he mean the vaccinations?  If it is determined that you do not have any of the heps, it would be a smart thing to get the Hep B series of vaccinations.  It is a set of 3 injections.  And, it's not drug company based.  This is me talking.  And I'm saying this because there are millions of people out there quite ill with hepatitis who don't give a fig how they infect other people.  They work in restaurants on the line and will spit in the food they are preparing, for one thing.  I know it's disgusting, but it happens all the time.  And, one of the filthiest things you can put your hands on is a shopping cart handle bar.  Ever see what people do with their hands while in a market:?  To the nose, mouth, eye, you name it, then the hands go back onto the shopping cart handle that you will grab next after they're done with it.  This is not to mention the surgical instruments (all inclusive) which are mishandled or placed into mal-functioning autoclaves or gas units.  I'll just stop there. 

 

Please do get the B series of injections.  We live in a nasty world.


 

 

 

@sfnative  My doctor did not suspect I had Hep C.  It is what doctors do now, test everythone over a certain age due to all of the hype out there about it.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,561
Registered: ‎07-20-2017

Re: Have you had a hepatitis shot?

No.