Travel Vaccines

Hepatitis B Travel Vaccine

Hepatitis B Travel Vaccine

If you’re looking to travel abroad and need guidance on the vaccinations that you require, simply visit the below link and check which vaccinations you require.

Our team of professional doctors located Nationwide are on hand to assist with your vaccination requirements.

Hepatitis B Vaccine

Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver spread by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person.

It occurs in various parts of the world and is widespread in places such as sub-Saharan Africa, east and southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

Certain behaviours or activities can put travellers at higher risk of hepatitis B, particularly when these occur in areas where hepatitis B is more common.

These behaviours and activities include:

unprotected sex

adopting or fostering children from high-risk areas

exposure to blood or blood products through occupation, such as healthcare work

exposure to contaminated needles through injecting drugs or having a sexual partner who injects drugs

long stay travel

Symptoms

In the majority of cases of hepatitis B symptoms do not occur. Symptoms more commonly occur in adults than children and may include: jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), loss of appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Persistent hepatitis B infection develops in 80 to 90 percent of those infected in the first year of life and in only five percent of those infected in adult years. Persistent infection may lead to liver failure or liver cancer.

Prevention

All travellers should avoid contact with blood and bodily fluids by:

Avoiding unprotected sexual intercourse.

Avoid drinking alcohol – this can increase the risk of developing serious liver problems

not sharing needles or other injection equipment.

not sharing shaving equipment or toothbrushes with other people

Hepatitis B vaccine

Several well-tolerated inactivated hepatitis B vaccines, including combined hepatitis A/B products, are available and vaccination is recommended for all travellers considered at risk. The initial hepatitis B vaccination schedule involves 3 injections completed over differing time scales depending on how quickly they are required.

Full protection involves having three injections of the hepatitis B vaccine at the recommended intervals. The vaccine is very safe and side effects are rare as it is an inactivated vaccine.

Public Health England advises that for travellers who have completed a hepatitis B vaccine course, a single booster dose of vaccine at five years is not required, unless they are considered at continuing risk of infection. A blood test to check immunity (hepatitis B surface antibody levels) is only recommended for people with kidney failure or those at risk of occupational exposure particularly healthcare and laboratory workers.

VACCINE PRICE LIST