hep A, B and C- a bit of confusion? a delayed reply

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In reply to your earlier message Marcie:

The type of Hep you are describing below is HepC Viral or HCV. That is the variety I have, in my case: contracted from a needle puncture while working in an HIV clinic as a volunteer. The other Hep varieties: A or B are contracted by contact with an infected person, eating food that is contaminated, etc. but also through the ways you listed.

So immunizing infants against Hep B (and in some states they now require Hep A) is not exactly immunizing for a no-good reason. That doesn't mean I think everyone should be immunized.

We all have to make our own choices for ourselves and our children. I, for instance, don't see a good reason for the Chicken Pox vaccine (other than to keep parents from missing work) so I did not vaccinate my kids for that. They have both had the virus, it wasn't too serious, and they have developed a natural immunity to the virus. Some vaccines have obviously saved humanity from obliteration: Small Pox, Polio, MMR, etc. But there is always a risk anytime you tinker with the human immune system, even if just trying to improve it! Personally, I had nothing but bad experience with the flu vaccine. I got it one year on the advice of my PCP and that was a year of constant colds and sinus infections. So never again will I get a flu vaccine!

My family, husband and two children are, most fortunately, not infected with the HepC. My DH and I have chosen to immunize them- including himself- for the Hep A (they were given Hep B routinely as infants) because of the risk factor that comes from living with a chronic Hepatitis patient. I believe my doc's concern is more for me than for them. If they contracted Hep A or B and passed it on to me it could devastate my already stressed-out liver. It could be fatal for me.

And just to recap: Not all of us get Hepatitis (of any variety) from "dirty syringes/drug use or promiscuous sex"...its hard enough carrying the stigma of a disease like Hepatitis C around...everyone automatically seems to jump to the conclusion that I did something awful to catch such a disease...without having people perpetuate the misconceptions.

Whether I did or didn't is nobody's business but my own and yet I am constantly questioned as to how I caught it. Even by total strangers who overhear my doctor or pharmacist talking to me about it! For the record, a perfectly self-respecting individual can also contract HepC from a blood transfusion. Up until about a decade ago there was no name for HepC, and it was not routinely tested for in the blood banks in this country. Many HCV patients contracted it from a tainted blood product or transfusion. The 65 yr old, kindly, and sweet, grandmother that lives across the street from me caught Hep B from her husband before he passed away. He got it from a blood transfusion. No junkies there! I also had a friend, her little boy caught Hep A from tainted food. Again, no deviant behavior there. Sorry to climb on my soapbox but it is hard, as I said, to have a disease with a built-in stigma, in a society full of people who are voyeurs and seem to love to get in every one else's business! Luckily for those with Hep B and A there is a cure. There is no cure for Hep C. Not even a vaccine to prevent you from contracting it.

As for the link between the Hep B vaccine and MS: I don't doubt that there could be a link for individuals that are at high risk, have a family member with MS or have other triggers for autoimmune disease. Seems like more research should be done on ALL vaccines before we start poking our sweet, newborn babies with these serums.

How long did it take the U.S. to realize the Diptheria/Tetanus vaccine we were using was causing harm before switching over to the DTap, a safer vaccine, that the Japanese government has been using for a very long time? There are a lot of parents with permanently brain-damaged children that would like an answer to that question.

Sometimes I wish the US FDA and the rest of the government would just wake up and get it together!

And some days I wish I did not have Hep C. But we deal with the hand we've got, now don't we?

Okay, end of rant.

Best all around,

Lara

(for record: HCV Dx'd 3/2004, post Total thyroidectomy for Stage One Papillary Carcinoma of the Thyroid and Hashimoto's Disease 10/2003, Pernicious B12 Anemia/Peripheral Neuropathy/Fibromyalgia Dx'd 1/2004 and my most recent tests for MS and Myelopathy were, thankfully, normal for now...according to my Neuro who thinks the leftover antibodies to my thyroid gland are messing with my brain...which might explain this rant!)

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In reply to :

Message: 6 Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 20:31:01 EDTFrom: marciemjm@...Subject: Re: Hepatitis B Vaccination Increases Multiple Sclerosis ...I haven't had the Hep B vaccine, but here's how I see it: this is a disease that people get from dirty syringes/drug use or promiscuous sex. Right?? So why then do newborn infants need it? Or many others for that matter. It's a gimmick to make lots of money for someone. I wonder whoooo????Marcie (PPMS)