Hi everyone, I work as a homeopath in england (not been qualified for very long) and am looking for a part time job while I build my practice.

One of the jobs I've applied for is a technician at a hospital and I have an interview for it in a couple of weeks. I am concerned that I might be required to have a Hepatitis B vaccine in order to take the job (nothing has been mentioned though on the job description forms but the post is "subject to a suitable medical clearance").

Anyway, I do not want to have any vaccines, but I have been searching for specific side effects from the Hep B vaccine on the web without much luck - all I can seem to get off the web is pro-vaccine sites or sites with info on general vaccine side effects. The information I have in texts at home gives side effects on childhood ones such as MMR and DPT but not on Hep B.

I've heard of some of the side effects of the Hep B vacc such as neurological probs (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis but I was wondering what other side effects there are and if there are any web links to sites containing the info.

I'd just like some more info on it for my own learning and development, and also if I get the job, I'd like to know that I was confident in my decision to decline a vaccine. i.e. I had made an informed decision!

Thanks, Kara

Description of the vaccine and possible side-effects here:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004207.html

If you are to take on a job where there is a risk of infection, you must weigh the pros and cons. The vaccination is not without problems, but Hepatitis B is a serious disease.

However, if it is a job requirement, I don't think you can decline. If you want the job, that is.

Hans

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<i>You have a right to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.</i>

Hi KAra,
If the vaccine is mandatory, there is nothing much you can do about it except look for another job.
I have not personally come across anyone with problems following Hepatitis B vaccination - but here we are talking about adults or bigger children who have taken the vaccine.

Today the vaccine is being forced onto infants and new borns - I don't see the rationale behind it - and I find it alarming. I think instead it should continue to be a choice.

I think your constitutional similimum would beable to handle whatever effects the vaccine may cause.
Hope this helps.
dr. leela

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http://www.homeopathy2health.com

Dear Dr Leela and MRCHans, thanks for your replies.

I have had a look at the link and it is very useful - thanks.

I am not sure what to do, I will see if I am asked about Hep B Vaccine at interview and/or on any medical forms - I have applied for other jobs (some clerical within the NHS) and I think that I would prefer those jobs if I am offered them as I really do not want to have the vaccine (and feel that people shouldn't be forced to!).

I think in the UK hospital staff have to have the vaccine if they are handling blood products, I do not expect to have to do this in the job I've applied for (ECG technician) so I will wait and see - with all likelihood I will prbably not be offered the job anyway (probably too qualified!! always the story!) so I am just theorising over nothing!!

Thanks,
Kara x

Kara: Well, good luck with your job-hunting. We must realize that there are always prices to pay. If the job of your dreams comes with the cost of the (after all, small) risk from Hep. b vaccination, you must consider if it is worth the price.

Dr. Leela:

"Today the vaccine is being forced onto infants and new borns - I don't see the rationale behind it - and I find it alarming. I think instead it should continue to be a choice."

I agree, and I'm surprised to hear it. Where does that happen, and why? I thought that there was general consensus that Hep. b vaccination is among the ones that are only to be given if a concrete risk of infection exists. For the general polulace, where the risk of Hep. b infection is very small, the cost/benefit balance for vaccination is not favorable.

Hans

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<i>You have a right to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.</i>

HAns,
I'm in India.
The WHO (?) reccomendation is taht the new born is givn the first vaccine the day they are born and then again after 6 mnths. I was also advised to give her the booster after 1.5 years.
Before I realised it, my baby was taken for a BCG vaccination and a Hepatitis B vaccination. The hospital does it routinely, and no one is expected to give consent or even asked for permission.
Not to mention, we were expected to pay the exhorbitant amount for it as well.
See, we are so uneducated and illiterate here? I mean, are we not the disease infested third world?

For my other children, the pedaitrician advised me to give the vaccine, I did not as i did not see the need for it.
dr. leela

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http://www.homeopathy2health.com

Here in Saudi Arabia also, all newborns are vaccinated with Hep-B without ever being asked.

On my daughter's regular vaccination (MMR, HIB) the doctor added another one which on enquiry was found out to be Chicken Pox vaccine, which I didn't allow. Now each time I visit the pediatrician, he reminds me that I have skipped one "important" vaccine

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Don't take life too seriously, it aint permanent.

Hepatitis is pretty rampant in Pakistan & I assume the same would be true for India too. I hope the decision of not vaccinating oneself against serious diseases is well thought through.

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Don't take life too seriously, it aint permanent.

Dr. Leela: OK, I see. I admit my thinking was Europe-oriented. Obviously the risk-profile may be different elsewhere. If a sizeable part of the population has the disease, it is, of course, a different matter. There is also a perspective beyond personal safety, then: The attempt to push back the disease. If this is to be done by vaccination, it requires a good coverage, which is usually the background for compulsory vaccination schemes everywhere. That was how smallpox was eradicated.

Whether compulsory Hep. b vaccination is a good idea or not in your parts, I cannot judge, but in principle, there is nothing backwards about it.

Edited to add:

F1st, I agree that vaccination against Chicken Pox would seem needless. Here, whenever a child gets Chicken Pox, all the classmates are sent home to them to play . It is an extremely benign disease. Btw, I never got it when I was a kid, so when my own kids had it, I got it too. That was not nice. Not only was it much more unpleasant for an adult (rather strong flu-like symptoms to top the small sores), but the worst thing was the lack of compassion; everybody thought it was SO funny I had Chicken Pox .

Hans

Hans

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<i>You have a right to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.</i>

In the US, newborns are given Hep B before they leave the hospital and all children are given the chicken pos vaccine, also. They are way over vaccinated!

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Shirley Reischman