General	The Hepatitis B vaccine is the first vaccine against a major human cancer because HBV is the main cause of primary liver cancer. The vaccine is available for all age groups.
Safe and Effective	Over 1 billion doses of the Hepatitis B vaccine have already been administered since the vaccine was invented in 1982. Scientific data and operational experience have confirmed the vaccine is very safe for both children and adults. Furthermore, the WHO states “studies have shown that the vaccine is 95% effective in preventing children and adults from developing chronic infection if they have not yet been infected.”
Vaccine Limitations	The vaccine has not been shown to be effective for infected patients. However, it is also not harmful, causing pre-vaccination screening to be generally unnecessary. The vaccine may be effective in preventing HBV infection if administered during a limited time window (generally 1-2 weeks) after exposure to the virus
Contraindications to Vaccine Usage	The recombinant Hepatitis B vaccines used in the United States are synthesized from common baker’s yeast. If you are allergic to yeast, talk to your doctor to ensure you are not immunized with a vaccine containing yeast.
Immunization Schedule	To provide maximum protection, the vaccine is given as a series of three doses over a period of four to six months. For children and adolescents, a monovalent HBV vaccine is manufactured by major pharmaceutical companies: Recombivax by Merck and Engerix-B by GlaxoSmithKline. Read the vaccination schedule for newborn infants Read the vaccination schedule for children and adolescents ages 1-18
Recommended dosages	Recommended doses for licensed formulations of hepatitis B vaccine, by age group and vaccine type (adapted from the U.S. CDC)   Single-antigen vaccine   Recombivax HB Engerix-B   Dose (ug) Volume (ml) Dose (ug) Volume (ml) Infants (<1 yr) 5 .5 10 .5 Children (1-10 yr) 5 .5 10 .5 Adolescents (11-19 yr) 5 .5 10 .5 Adults (>20 yr) 10 1.0 20 1.0
Post-Vaccination Testing	High-risk people such as health care personnel and immune-compromised patients should receive post-vaccination testing (the anti-HBs test) to confirm the presence of anti-HBs in concentrations greater than 10mlU/mL. Learn more about HBV blood tests