I went to a blood drive on Wednesday. I filled out the paperwork and didn’t check off the “potentially exposed” to Hep C because I’ve had the shots. I did write that down in the comments section. Today, I got an email that basically said that they threw my blood away and that I should never darken their doors again.
Did I do something wrong? Kids get Hep C vaccinations in grade school now, does this mean that nobody under the age of 40 can donate blood? I’ve got my Hep B shots and pre exposure Rabies shots as well. Does this mean I can’t ever donate again?
How did you word your comment? Did they think you meant that you had been exposed to it, but because you had the vaccination, you thought it wasn’t a big deal? I have no idea if that makes a difference, but maybe your comment was ambiguous and they misunderstood.
Thank you for your reply. I said I had had Hep C, Hep B and Rabies pre-exposures shots. That’s all I said. I thought that Hep C and B were common, just mentioned the rabies because it was odd.
What shots are you talking about? I went to google and searched for “hepatitis c vaccine and blood donation” and it repeatedly returned results that stated there is no vaccine for hepatitis c.
There is a series of shots for Hep C. I’ve had them. Not a vaccine, pre-exposure, just like rabies. This doesn’t mean that I’m immune, it just means that if I’m exposed, I have a better chance of not getting it after the treatment.
There is no vaccine available for the prevention of Hepatitis C. There are vaccines to prevent Hep B and Hep A.
There is no approved HC immune globulin (HCiG) to give someone who’s been exposed to Hep C either. That procedure to treat exposure or prevent recurrent infection is still undergoing testing. Based on my review of the literature, I don’t believe it’s been found to be particularly effective as of yet. Perhaps you were part of some study to see if HCiG therapy is useful, but it’s not a standard practice at this time. At least in the US.
The only current ‘shots’ for Hep C that are routinely used are interferon shots, which is part of a 6 to 12 month therapy that on average cures about 40% of people who are infected with Hep C.
HBiG has a definite role in post-exposure prophylaxis. It would be nice if HCiG was shown to be effective that way, but so far the evidence is quite the mixed bag.
Well, this has brought up even more questions. What the heck sort of shots did I get? Going by the responses here and google, I did NOT get Hep C shots. I didn’t pay for them, I got them from the County Health Department. Everyone at that medical clinic had to get them, and I’m sure that we were told that they were Hep C related.
I had bloodwork first, a timed series of 3 shots and then bloodwork afterwards. It has been about 7 years. I will call the Health Department on Monday and ask. I don’t remember being told that we were test subjects.
I know that I’d remember being part of a study. I’d brag about doing my part to save the world.
I’m going to be outraged if we were used that way without our permission. As Records Management for the county (not my job then), if they say they can’t find me in their data base, I know where their paperwork is. Outrage might be happening soon.
It sounds like you got the Hepatitis B vaccine series, frankly. One shot to start, the 2nd a month later, and the third 6 months after the first one is the typical series.
Bloodwork first demonstrates you’re not immune to Hep B, so that the shots are worth doing. Bloodwork after to check and see if the vaccine took, and made you immune.
A lot of my patients think they got Hep C vaccine after that one. I’m not sure why there’s so much confusion about the issue.
It’s highly unlikely you were part of a study without your knowledge. Certainly not one where they gave you HCiG.
QtM, while I hate to argue with someone as well informed as you, I have the shot records for my Hep B shots. I also have the shot records for my pre-exposure rabies shots. This is important for me, rabies, I mean. I’m much more likely to have to deal with rabies than Hep C.
I did not get Hep B shots twice. I honestly would have remembered that, and my blood work would have told them to not stick me again.
I’ll report back after I call the Health Department on Monday. If they have no records of my shots, I will dig through the boxes and find documents that I don’t understand.
I am gonna slightly derail this, but I got hep shots for hep A & hep B together. I had to take a series of three shots, about a month apart each. My derail is, do they normally separate them into hep B shots and hep A shots?
Nope, they’re commonly given at the same time. Twinrix, a vaccine formulation that contains them both, is what I usually order for my folks who need both.
They shouldn’t have been given a month apart, though.
Hep B should be given at interval 0, 1 month, and 6 months.
Hep A should be given at interval 0 and 6 months.
A little extra Hep A vaccine at 1 month isn’t a problem.
Being late for a dose isn’t a problem in inducing immunity either, usually.
But giving a dose waaaay too soon can be a problem, in that it may not confer full immunity.
Come to think of it, I did get the Hep A&B vaccine at one time, then in 30 days then six months later. It was in about 2005, so I guess I’m OK for awhile.