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HBV immunity!?


anxious_101

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Despite getting my full 3 step Hep B vaccination in elementary school, I have no immunity according to the blood test I just got back. I have to start a new series of vaccination. Errrrrr :mad: I have to pay for it myself too!

 

Since those of us who went to elementary or high school in Ontario were all vaccinated in school, did anyone else who previously got the vaccination end up having to re-vaccinate? My GP said I probably do have immunity even if the serum tests show negative, but med schools want the blood work proof! :confused:

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Despite getting my full 3 step Hep B vaccination in elementary school, I have no immunity according to the blood test I just got back. I have to start a new series of vaccination. Errrrrr :mad: I have to pay for it myself too!

 

Since those of us who went to elementary or high school in Ontario were all vaccinated in school, did anyone else who previously got the vaccination end up having to re-vaccinate? My GP said I probably do have immunity even if the serum tests show negative, but med schools want the blood work proof! :confused:

 

yeah my GP said there are some people who can get a million vaccinations and still have the titres come back as saying they're not immune lol. I'm finding out the results of my hep B test by next friday.. sucks you have to go through a new series!

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my hep b titres came back showing no immunity.

 

i had to get a shot done at student health and then i'll get more blood work in a month. if it still comes back low i'll have to get another shot.

 

i'm worried about getting another one since the last time coincided perfectly with my fever and flu-like symptoms...

 

oh, and i didn't have to pay for the hep b vaccine through student health.

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Just wondering, are those vaccines expensive?

 

It would suck if it's in the hundred range

 

the only vaccine i had to pay for was the tetanus and pertussis... it was 28.00

 

i think the twinrix hep a/hep b vaccine is a little pricey, but not required for med school.

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my hep b titres came back showing no immunity.

 

i had to get a shot done at student health and then i'll get more blood work in a month. if it still comes back low i'll have to get another shot.

 

i'm worried about getting another one since the last time coincided perfectly with my fever and flu-like symptoms...

 

oh, and i didn't have to pay for the hep b vaccine through student health.

 

I think you might have to get all three regardless of what your titres are since that's the complete course for the vaccine.

 

I also didn't have to pay for HepB through student health.

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Thanks for the replies guys. My GP wrote me the prescription to get the Twinrix vaccine through his clinic, which costs $180 I believe and it's a full 3 dose series. I am going to check if I can get it covered through U of T or if they have some other means that would be cheaper. Any U of T students know if there is a student health service I can access for this?

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I got only the titre (which was positive so I'm good) since I got the 3 shots 10 years ago entering physio at McGill. The nurse at health services told me if it was negative, I'd get only 1 shot, then test again and it would most likely turn up positive then. I got the tuberculosis skin test and DCaT vaccine and paid nothing (it's covered by my school insurance + being a med student).

 

I got the hep A Havrix alone a couple years ago before going to Thailand, and I remember it was a bit pricy. Like said above, not needed for med. When I did hep B, I bought the 2nd and 3rd doses at the local pharmacy instead of going to student health, but IIRC it wasn't very expensive at all.

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Despite getting my full 3 step Hep B vaccination in elementary school, I have no immunity according to the blood test I just got back. I have to start a new series of vaccination. Errrrrr :mad: I have to pay for it myself too!

 

Since those of us who went to elementary or high school in Ontario were all vaccinated in school, did anyone else who previously got the vaccination end up having to re-vaccinate? My GP said I probably do have immunity even if the serum tests show negative, but med schools want the blood work proof! :confused:

 

same here-- I've just got back my blood test and it was negative at 9.5 (10.5 being the minimum value for the test to be turned out positive). I'm schedule to have a re-boost next week.

The nurse told me that they can allow up to 3 re-boosts for a maximum of 6 shoots with new serology test in between each shoot (ouch!), but some people just never get full and it wouldn't be worth with or safe to have a 7th shoot . Good news is that 10.5 is kind of arbitrary and being lower doesn't mean that you are not protected (i.e. you can still work in a hospital setting and interact with patients).

 

I'm surprised that you had to pay for the vaccine though, let alone 180$ :eek:... I thought it was entirely covered...

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I got only the titre (which was positive so I'm good) since I got the 3 shots 10 years ago entering physio at McGill. The nurse at health services told me if it was negative, I'd get only 1 shot, then test again and it would most likely turn up positive then. I got the tuberculosis skin test and DCaT vaccine and paid nothing (it's covered by my school insurance + being a med student).

 

I got the hep A Havrix alone a couple years ago before going to Thailand, and I remember it was a bit pricy. Like said above, not needed for med. When I did hep B, I bought the 2nd and 3rd doses at the local pharmacy instead of going to student health, but IIRC it wasn't very expensive at all.

 

hey psychoswim,

did you have bruising about the size of a nickel around the injection site for your ppd test (TB)? i'm getting mine read today, it's not raised, just bruised a bit.

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same here-- I've just got back my blood test and it was negative at 9.5 (10.5 being the minimum value for the test to be turned out positive). I'm schedule to have a re-boost next week.

The nurse told me that they can allow up to 3 re-boosts for a maximum of 6 shoots with new serology test in between each shoot (ouch!), but some people just never get full and it wouldn't be worth with or safe to have a 7th shoot . Good news is that 10.5 is kind of arbitrary and being lower doesn't mean that you are not protected (i.e. you can still work in a hospital setting and interact with patients).

 

I'm surprised that you had to pay for the vaccine though, let alone 180$ :eek:... I thought it was entirely covered...

 

the reason why he/she has to pay is because it is the twinrix... not hep b.

 

the hep a vaccine is not covered and getting twinrix is only worthwhile if you are travelling abroad.

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I think you might have to get all three regardless of what your titres are since that's the complete course for the vaccine.

 

I also didn't have to pay for HepB through student health.

 

Nope, I already had the doses when I was a kid.

 

The nurse confirmed that I would get one shot, then get a titre check... if it comes back negative I get another shot... if it comes back positive I'm done.

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hey psychoswim,

did you have bruising about the size of a nickel around the injection site for your ppd test (TB)? i'm getting mine read today, it's not raised, just bruised a bit.

 

First test it was slightly reddish maybe 2-3mm across, but no bump at all. Second one was slightly bumpy for 3mm across which is still negative. It look bruise-ish, but much smaller than a nickel for me. They don't read the width of discoloration, just the raised part anyway.

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