Hepatitis B

Very common side effects

Up to 33 per cent of children who have vaccines that contain DTPa, Hib or IPV experience redness at the injection site that lasts up to a few days.

Common side effects

About 10 to 13 per cent of people who have vaccines that contain DTPa, IPV, Hib or HepB experience mild swelling or pain at the injection site that lasts one or two days.
Up to 20 per cent of children who have vaccines that contain DTPa, Hib or IPV develop a mild fever that lasts one or two days.
About 5 to 10 per cent of babies who have vaccines that contain IPV experience decreased appetite.
About 2 per cent of people who get booster doses of a vaccine that includes DTPa get a sore red, swollen arm. The swelling starts in the first two days after vaccination. It lasts for one to seven days and then gets better. Booster doses are recommended for children at 18 months, four years and ten to 11 years, and again when adults are 50 and 65.
About 1 per cent of children who have a vaccine that contains IPV get a hard lump at the injection site that lasts a few days or weeks.

Rare side effects

Babies who get a fever (for any reason) occasionally experience a fit (febrile convulsion) that lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Some people who get vaccines that include HepB experience nausea or aches in their muscles or joints in the days afterwards.

Very rare side effects

About 0.0032 per cent of children who get the vaccine as babies experience hypotonic-hyporesponsive episodes (HHE). These children get very pale, go limp, and don’t respond to their surroundings. Their lips and fingernails can also turn blue. This reaction can last for a few minutes, or up to about 36 hours. HHEs can happen up to 48 hours after getting the vaccine. HHEs don’t usually have any long-term effects on children’s health.
About 0.0001 per cent of people who get any of the vaccines have an allergic reaction that affects their whole body, called anaphylaxis. This reaction usually happens within 15 minutes of getting the vaccination and can be treated by giving an injection (epinephrine). People who have this reaction usually recover quickly and don’t experience any long-term effects.

Usual symptoms

Babies with hepatitis B infection don’t usually have any symptoms at all.
Up to 90 per cent of people who get hepatitis B as babies develop a chronic (long-term), hidden hepatitis B infection but don’t know it.
Around 30 to 50 per cent of adults who catch hepatitis B experience fever, nausea, vomiting, tummy pain, fatigue (severe tiredness or loss of energy), muscle aches, jaundice (yellow skin and eyes), their urine (wee) gets very dark, and their poo looks very pale. They can also get a rash and sore, swollen joints. The fatigue can last for many weeks.
Around 10 per cent of people who catch hepatitis B as adults develop long-term hepatitis B.
Around 25 per cent of people with long-term hepatitis B infections develop liver cancer or cirrhosis (scarring) on their liver that stops the liver from working properly.
People who have long-term hepatitis B infections usually don’t know until after their liver is scarred or they get liver cancer.

Rare symptoms

About 1 per cent of people who catch hepatitis B as adults develop very severe liver disease soon after they catch it.