I got the hep b vaccine about 10 yrs ago. Now I've heard so many different things i dont know what to believe. My one doctor told me it lasts forever but my P.A and I read online said it may not last forever. I also read it only lasts 23 yrs. anyways i go to my obgyn every 6 months and i always get routinely tested for everything just to be safe. Now i've gotten tested for hep b many times. everything's always been fine. last time my doctor said i had hep b antibodies but i didnt have the antigen which i guess is the actual virus. Now why would i all of a sudden have antibodies? she said i had them b/c of the vaccine? now why would i have never had them before? does that mean if the vaccine ever runs out that i have hep b? does that mean i was definitly exposed to the virus? i just don't understand????????
2006-12-15 12:59:16 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Infectious Diseases
Your bodies memory usually reboots itself about every 25 years. It forgets it's previous memory. The Hep B is a series of 3 shots over so many months. That usually will last you a life time. Unless you are in a high risk situation I can't imagine you would have to go through another series. If you have received that vaccine then you have always had antibodies. The levels may have increased if you were recently exposed. Its not alway by sexual exposure, but you can also be exposed by blood or feces. THIS IS WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO WASH YOUR HANDS.
2006-12-15 13:07:49 · answer #1 · answered by Flipper 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You Have the HBsAb, Because of Vaccination, Yeah this Titer Will Slowly Decline Over the Years, Without Further Challenge, But the B Cells (Which Initially Differentiated Into Plasma Cells [Antibody Secreters]), Will, In All Probability Be Around For a Very Long Time, Some of Them Probably Differentiated Into Memory Cells (Which Will Be Long Lived), Ready to Make Antibodies Very Quickly.
2006-12-16 14:38:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You've had the antibodies since you got the shots. That's what a vaccine does, it makes your body produce antibodies that fight a certain disease.
Why is this the first time you heard this? Most likely because previous doctors didn't ordered the antibody test, since you had been vaccinated. Or if they did order the test, they didn't tell you about results that weren't relevant.
If you did get exposed, then your body will fight it off. You can get your antibody titer checked, that will tell your doctor how much antibody is in your system, and use that as a number to determine when you might need a booster shot.
2006-12-15 21:21:19 · answer #3 · answered by lizettadf 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Antibodies are there because of the vaccine. They have been produced initially in response to the vaccine. The titre goes down over the years, but whenever the body encounters the antigen, it will make antibodies and the titre goes up. If you had the antibody titre checked before and it was low, it must have gone up because of exposure.
2006-12-16 12:51:39 · answer #4 · answered by yakkydoc 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋