The Hepatitis A & B Combined Vaccine and Why You Should Get It

Your liver is a very important organ. It filters your blood, processes drugs, stores blood sugar and helps protect you from getting sick. This is why it is important to keep your liver healthy.

Hepatitis is an inflammatory condition of the liver. If it persists, it can cause liver damage and cancer. Symptoms of hepatitis include fever, fatigue, pain, changes in appetite and yellowing of skin and eyes.

The most common cause of hepatitis is a viral infection. There are five concerning hepatitis viruses that cause five different types of hepatitis: A, B, C, D and E.

You can get hepatitis A or E by eating contaminated food or drink. Hepatitis B, C and D spread through contact with the blood or bodily fluid of an infected person.

Most types of viral hepatitis don’t have cures and only some can be treated with antiviral drugs. But hepatitis A and B are completely preventable through vaccination.

Hepatitis A is very contagious, even when a person isn’t having symptoms. It often spreads through contaminated food. It can also spread between people through close personal contact.

Since 2016, there have been more than 40,000 cases of Hepatitis A in the U.S. More than half of these cases put people in the hospital. Infected people can be sick for weeks to months.

Hepatitis B spreads from person to person through blood or bodily fluids. It can spread during sexual intercourse or needle sharing. It can also pass from mother to baby at birth.

Hepatitis B infected over 2 million people in the U.S. last year. Hepatitis B virus is the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide.

While some people with Hepatitis B don’t show symptoms, others can be sick for weeks to months. Symptoms can also take months to develop.

Some people develop chronic or long-lasting Hepatitis B infection that can lead to liver damage or cancer. People who are infected at birth are especially at risk of chronic infection.

Twinrix is a vaccine that can prevent both Hepatitis A and B. It is available for adults in the U.S. who have not been vaccinated before.

Twinrix was approved by the FDA in 1997 after being tested for safety by more than 2,500 people in clinical trials. The vaccine is given in three doses on a schedule of 0, 1 and 6 months.

Twinrix is very effective. Within a month of their last jab, nearly 100% of people have antibodies that can fight infection. Vaccinated people are immune to Hepatitis B for a lifetime and to Hepatitis A for up to 20 years.

The most common side effects of a Twinrix injection include injection site soreness, headache and fatigue.