How Important Is the Hepatitis a Vaccine?

Usually this comes from the food industry. If you dont plan on eating out you probably dont have to worry about it. But if you hit Applebee's now and then I feel the vaccination is a legitimate one.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_A

"Hepatitis A infection causes no clinical signs and symptoms in over 90% of infected children and since the infection confers lifelong immunity, the disease is of no special significance to those infected early in life."

For this reason, we have decided not to give the vaccine. My doctor concurs that contracting it is not life threatening (flu-like symptoms), and, like chicken pox, getting it once typically provides lifelong immunity.

Very important, unless you plan to never eat out with her.

Hepatitis A is relatively uncommon in the united states.. I looked at the incidence of the virus in my county.. and there were 4 cases last year. I did not get the vaccine for my kids.

However if you travel internationally the risk is higher...

Hep A in young kids is not very seriousl.. but in adults it can be worse.

It's fairly important, especially if she is around people who are in a higher risk category. It's really impossible to know if or when she will be exposed, especially if you plan to ever go out to eat at a restaurant or friends/family home.

All the info about the vaccine is here:

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/hepa/qandavax.asp

info about hepatitis a is here:
http://www.vaccineinformation.org/hepa/qandadis.asp

It can be contracted from eating prepared food/beverages by a person who didn't wash their hands properly after using the restroom who has hep a, they can get it the same way and through sex or doing drugs with an infected person. People who travel frequently are at a high risk due to poor sanitation problems. The disease rates are declining due to vaccination, and risk is probably lower for her age, but in my personal opinion, I'd rather be safe.

Ever been behind the scenes in a restaurant?

Do you really think that everyone from line cooks to servers to bartenders to busboys wash their hands frequently while working? Um, no. I worked in a restaurant during college and the health habits of the employees are disgusting. We're talking cross-contamination of food, not washing hands after using the bathroom, using the same rag to wipe every table without rinsing or cleaning it...

Thus, I think the HepA vaccine is important.

I don't think this is important for a 2 year old.

Hepatitis A (formerly known as infectious hepatitis) is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV),[1] which is transmitted person-to-person by ingestion of contaminated food or water or through direct contact with an infectious person.

Unless your child has been exposed I wouldn't worry about it.

I think we held off on this one for a while but eventually gave it a year or two later.

Just to give you a different perspective, we live in the UK, and Hep A is not one of the routine vaccines here i.e. no-one gets it unless they are travelling somewhere where there may be a risk from water or food. I know absolutely no-one who has ever had this illness and have never heard of anyone getting it, so I doubt the risk is of any significance, if no-one gets this illness in a country where no-one i routinely vaccinated.
Here, the advice is to get it if you are travelling outwith very developed countries, so in our family we have all had it as we have travelled to Morocco and the far East etc.
I would say don't get it unless you have travel plans

http://www.dhpe.org/infect/hepa.html
http://hepatitis.about.com/od/prevention/Preventing_Hepat...
http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/hepatitis-a-and-b-vacc...

Yes it is a contagious disease.
read the articles, for info.

Get the Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. It answers your questions about the Hep vaccine and all the other vaccines out there.

If you're trying to stay away from shots, then you probably don't need it. My daughter turned 2 last May and the only reason I gave it to her because I was traveling to Poland where the water is not of the best quality. Even a small thing like washing a fruit in bad water can cause the illness. You're supposed to give two shots of the Hep A vaccine, we did one back in May, and the other one just last week because we're traveling to Mexico this week and I want her to be protected. Either way, your child will live even if she contracts the desease, but I just didn't want her to get it in Mexico and God forbid I end up in a Mexican hospital or sth, who knows what the care is like over there. Good luck.