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Hepatitis B: continue vaccinating

In France, hepatitis B is a frequent viral infection with sometimes severe consequences. With vaccination, more than 90% of these infections are preventable. The risk-benefit balance is favourable.

In France, there is a real risk of being infected by the hepatitis B virus, with around 7 carriers per 1000 adults and more than 2000 new cases of infection each year. In some cases Hepatitis B is a serious short- and long-term disease that can be fatal and for which there is no proven cure. It can have serious complications including cirrhosis, liver cancer, acute hepatitis, and even death (around 2 deaths per 100,000 people). Prevention of hepatitis B requires a widespread information campaign and vaccination of those at risk.

Ten or so studies have not shown any convincing association between this vaccination and severe adverse effects. A new French study included nearly all the children under the age of 16 who had suffered one or several episodes of acute demyelination of the central system, i.e. 349 children out of the 403 recorded over a period of 10 years. Often mistakenly presented in an alarming manner, this study shows there is no association between severe neurological attacks and the hepatitis B vaccination.

The evidence currently available confirms that the benefits far outweigh the risks of vaccination against hepatitis B, especially among people with a well-identified risk of infection, and also among the under-13s, whose future risk cannot be predicted with certainty.

©Prescrire January 2009

Source: "Continuer à vacciner contre l'hépatite B" Rev Prescrire 2008; 28 (302) 924.

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