Hep B & Vitamin K

I´ve just been told that here in Spain, babies are given a Hepatitis B injection after birth. I am not aware that they do that in UK, France etc and wondered if anyone knew any more? Also, with regards the Vitamin K they give the baby after birth, does anyone know if its best to go for it orally or injection? Many thanks, SB

i went for the injection..i think if u take orally they have to take it a few times

Hi spanish bump! Re the hepatitis injection, that's a new vaccination they brought out last year for babies born after 1st July 08. I believe they have an injection at 1 month, 2 months & 6 months. HTH

hi fabcards & slinkminx!! thanks for the replies. Wow, thats great then. Its unusual for Spain to be doing things first.....we havent even got gas & air here yet!! And thanks for advice re vit K...injection it is then. Thanks girls

This is the official HSE guidelines for hep b immunisation: [i:hbmtybsx]Hepatitis B immunisation course consists of three doses of vaccine. These are given at 0, 1 and 6 months. The vaccine is given in to the muscle at the top of the arm. A blood test will also be taken 2 months after the full course of immunisation to make certain that the immunisation has been effective. If a person has had a course of the three Hepatitis B injections followed by a blood test showing that they were immune, then they do not need to get the vaccine again. [/i:hbmtybsx] Re Vitamin K, you can have it administered orally or by injection, but hospital policy is usually that they recommend injection, as it supposed to give a protection that lasts for several months. I went for oral administration on DD1 and after the hospital she did not require additional administration as she was formula fed, and formula milk is k-vitamin enriched. However, if you are exclusively breast-feeding, it is true that two more administration would be required and these would be given by the PHN.

thanks hu101 for the info. much appreciated! SB

Hey spanish bumb, I asked my consultant about the Hep B vaccine as a member of my family contracted heb B through blood transfusion. (Thankfully they are still in good health though) Anyway my consultant told me that its not essential for the first year [b:2jjda8se]if[/b:2jjda8se] the mother is immune and has had the vaccine as the baby will have the mother's immunity. So I am going to wait until babs is a little older before for the immunisation. I think the HSE guidelines below is more geared to adults (but I am open to correction) as thats the way I had my immunisation done a few years ago.

I re-visited the site, and Dreamer is right, it is for adults (the 0 months had thrown I thought it meant at birth ). The curent schedule does not include hep b. http://www.immunisation.ie/en/Childhood ... tJuly2008/

thanks for the info dreamer and hu101. much appreciated. Cheers! SB