This is hard to find the right wording...
I found out tonight that someone in the family who is trusted to babysit the kids has Hepatitis (I don't know a,b, or c). I am informed about how it is transmitted, and know I should not be as worried as I am. (Although hand washing for this person has always been a concern for me, before I knew)
Would you be upset that no one has said anything over the last 9 years? As much as the kids are at their house, I feel that is pertinent information. Especially since our choice with vaccinations on the kids (which they knew) has been a slow/delayed schedule so as to not give them too much at a time. If I had known they would be exposed so often it might have changed our decision.
It's a chronic case, because the cause is said to be from joining the military 30ish years ago when they received all of their vaccinations they shared needles between multiple soldiers. Does anyone know if that was the standard back then? Could that be true?
We're having another baby and we have always chosen not to get the hep b vaccine at the hospital, now I'm wondering what others opinions are about that vaccine, and if I should get it for the baby this time?
My little sister has had Hep C since she was 5. She is on meds and is fine! It's only contracted through needles or sometimes sex. She doesn't go around telling everyone she knows b/c there isn't any reason to.And no, she doesn't show any signs that she's "ill". I would simply ask what kind it is (it's either b or c). If it's B, then get vaccinated (IMO like you should have to begin with *no offense*)
About a third (2 Billlion+) of the world's population has hepatitis. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 4.4 million people in the US are living with chronic hepatitis and most do not even know they are infected.
Unless you keep your kids home all the time, they have almost certainly come into contact with others besides your relative.
When you choose to not vaccinate, or choose to delay, you're taking a calculated risk. Pros vs Cons, etc. That is your prerogative, and also your sole responsibility. People are not going to stay away from your kids, and it isn't practical to keep your kids away from everyone, so you must decide for yourself what is an acceptable level of risk.
Hep A can basically be gotten anywhere... contaminated drinking water, shellfish caught in contaminated water, feces cells from not washing hands and then getting it in your mouth, etc. The Hep A vaccine helps prevent this from happening. Someone who gets it can get it for a short time and after they recover it doesn't come back.
Hep B and C are chronic and those most at risk to get it are teens and adults, and they're viruses. They're passed the same way as HIV is passed (bodily fluids exchange) but much more easily. A mother delivering her baby can pass it to the baby during delivery. There are other ways too, like using unsterilized equipment at nail salons, changing dirty diapers, getting a tattoo with dirty needles, blood transfusions, etc. There's a vaccine for Hep B but not C.
It's usually recommended that family members in the same household receive vaccinations. The person who has Hep should be on a healthy diet and often will be taking medication.
I don't think that this person's medical status should have been made public to you unless you were living with them. Simply being babysat didn't/doesn't put your children at risk there. And frankly, your choice not to vaccinate your children on the recommended schedule and your choice not to participate in getting them specific vaccinations does NOT obligate anyone else to disclose their personal medical conditions. It's up to YOU to protect your children. It's up to YOU to figure these things out. If you want your children protected as much as is possible without damaging familial relationships, you may want to re-examine your position on Hep vaccines.
One of my brothers had Hep C. He got it from a dirty needle because he was an addict. He still lived intermittently at my parents' house, where my kids spent three days a week from infancy to Kindergarten. It was never a concern for me. I did ask the pediatrician because my husband was pretty fired up about this but she assured us that there was nothing to be worried about.
Do find out what kind it is so that you can have an informed conversation with your pediatrician. As far as how it was contracted? I find it hard to believe that in the 1980s the military would have shared needles among soldiers, but how it was contracted is, frankly, none of your business so don't ask.
It's not type A because that's like the flu and then you have lifelong immunity to it, like chicken pox. If it's C, this person would have shown signs because that is very very serious and they would have been getting intermittently sick (I have a friend with Hep C). It's most likely type B, which is contagious through bodily fluids like blood and semen and that's the vaccine they offer at birth. There are also different types of type B, another friend of mine got it through accidental blood contact and was lucky enough to have the type that isn't serious. In fact, I don't event think he's contagious, I know he isn't sick and his blood tests no longer show the disease in his system.
We also refused the vaccine for our kids because it's unnecessary for them. But, if we had a family member with the contagious type B, I would have them vaccinated.
You need to find out more specifics about what kind they have and then take appropriate measures to protect your kids. But casual contact will not spread the disease, generally speaking.
I would be mad too if I were you. Call your doctor's office and listen to whatever advice that they give. Kind of a testimony FOR vaccines wouldn't you say? You never do know when you or your family may be exposed to something.
It is sad nobody informed you, but you should be taking proactive actions to protect your children. You have a problem now, and a choice to make the right decision going forward.
Get the vaccinations, have your child tested to see if they have been affected or infected and find another person to babysit.
I haven't read the other answers but typically when one talks about chronic hepatitis its Hep C and that can ONLY be transmitted through infected blood. I read an article recently about how all baby boomers need to be checks for hep c b/c alot of them had blood transfusions back before they tested the blood. My husbands grandmother got hep c from a blood transfusion after decades of not even knowing she had it. I don't know if it was standard to share vaccination needles back in the day. But I can tell you if its hep c this person had it can only be transmitted by blood, so make sure all precautions when it comes to cuts etc are made. But it CANNOT be transmitted via coughing, sneezing, urine, skin.
The vaccine for hep b has nothing to do w/hep c because they are two different types of hepatitis.
As you've already been told, there are many types of hepatitis. Yes, it can be a concern.
My dad had one of the types.. (I don't remember when, sorry... it was a LONG time ago that I was told)... he also caught it in the military, but probably not from the injections. (He was in during WW II..... a LONG time ago.) We never took any precautions.
If possible, find out what type of hepatitis it is, and talk to your pediatrician about your concerns.
That's exactly why people who have HepC don't run around and tell everybody about this.Because other people know so little about it(or not at all) that it is easier not to tell then try to explain .
This is not AIDS and you only can get it from direct contact with blood( not just touch it,but you have to have an open sore,wound to get virus in your own blood) .You might get it sexually,but only having rough sex and if menstruating.
All you have to do is not use rasors,toothbrushes .And may be educate yourself a little more about HepC.After 1990 all blood gets checked for Hep and AIDs.You can get Hep B vaccine,but they don't have one for C.
