Hepatitis A - Vaccine
Alternate Names : Immunization - Hepatitis A, Vaccine - Hepatitis A
Who should be immunized
People who work or travel in areas with high rates of infection should be vaccinated. These areas include Africa, Asia (except Japan), the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central and Southern America, Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean. See the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for specific travel destination information.
If you are traveling to these areas before you are fully immunized (less than 4 weeks after first immunization), you should receive a prophylactic does of immunoglobulin (IG). If you are just a short-term traveler to these areas, you may wish to only receive the immunoglobulin (IG) instead of the vaccine.
This vaccine is mandated in children in Alaska, Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. In addition, the ACIP recommends vaccination in children in California, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. These recommendations are based on the indidence of Hepatitis in these states.
Other people who are at higher risk for hepatitis A include:
- Illicit intravenous drug users
- People who work with the hepatitis A virus in a laboratory or with primates that may be infected with the virus
- People who have chronic liver disease
- People who receive clotting factor concentrate to treat hemophilia or other clotting disorders.
- Military personnel
- Homosexual or bisexual men
- Employees of child day-care centers
- People who care for institutionalized patients
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