What are the costs of the vaccination?
The cost of a hepatitis B vaccination depends on the doctor or hospital where it is given. The average cost is about 60 Euro per vaccination. Since three vaccinations are necessary, the vaccination costs a total of 180 Euros.
The combination with a hepatitis A vaccination is usually a bit more expensive and amounts to about 80 Euro per vaccination. In some cases an additional consultation fee may be charged. In general, the costs for vaccinations recommended by the Standing Commission on Vaccinations (STIKO) are paid by the health insurance company.
Therefore the hepatitis B vaccination for children and adolescents is covered. For adults it depends on the health insurance company whether the vaccination is paid or subsidized. Persons who are exposed to an increased risk of infection due to their profession are often required by their employer to be vaccinated against hepatitis B. In this case, however, the costs are usually also covered by the employer.
Twinrix
Twinrix® is a combination vaccine for the prevention of infection with Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. The vaccine contains inactivated components of the Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B virus, which are no longer dangerous. The killed virus components trigger an immune response in the body.
The body forms antibodies against components of the hepatitis A and B viruses, which are responsible for marking viruses, whereupon these can be recognized and killed by the immune system. In this way, a possible infection can be fought effectively. After vaccination, these antibodies remain.
If the vaccinated person now becomes infected with hepatitis A or hepatitis B, the viruses can be killed quickly before they can damage the body and make it sick. The vaccine Twinrix can be used from the age of 16 years. Twinrix® is available in a dosage for children and a dosage for adults.
What side effects can the vaccination have?
Hepatitis B vaccination can cause mild irritation of the injection site, depression and headaches as a side effect in about one in ten patients. In slightly fewer patients the injection site swells, becomes red and itchy. Some patients also feel unwell and develop gastrointestinal problems.
These are usually diarrhea and occasionally vomiting. The purpose of the vaccination is to activate a defensive reaction of the immune system against the vaccine. This is exactly the same as the body’s defensive reactions against infections.
This can also lead to similar symptoms such as fever, sore throat, swelling of the lymph nodes or pain in the limbs as a side effect of the hepatitis B vaccination. In rare cases, skin abnormalities or itching may also occur in different parts of the body. In addition, individual cases have been observed in which diseases of the blood, brain or nervous system occurred after the vaccination.
However, it was partly proven in current studies that the vaccination was not the cause of the diseases, but only coincidentally in temporal relation to it. After a vaccination, many doctors recommend a short grace period, i.e. to refrain from heavy physical activity for a few days.After the vaccination there may be pain, especially in the area of the injection site. There may be redness and swelling, which is a painful reaction of the immune system.
However, these pains and discomforts should disappear a few days after the vaccination, otherwise a new presentation to the doctor will be necessary. In rare cases, the body’s defence reaction against the vaccine may also cause tiredness associated with aching limbs. In the past, some time after a hepatitis B vaccination, individuals have experienced multiple sclerosis (MS) or a relapse in an existing MS disease.
The body’s own immune system is influenced by a vaccination. Since the characteristics of the immune system are also related to the development of MS, it was suspected that a hepatitis B vaccination can trigger MS. However, this has been disproved by recent studies. It is therefore assumed that the individual cases must have been randomly consecutive events that happened independently of each other.
