Taken Hepatitis B Vaccine. Blood Test Shows HepB Positive. Prescribed Tenofir. When Did I Get Infected?

Posted on Sat, 25 Aug 2012

Question: dear doctor
i am 50 years old male,6.2 hight,96kgs waight.....my self , three sons and wife taken hepatitis-B vaccine in the year 2000 in 3 doses(copy attached) XXXXXXX 2012 i donated blood to red cross.as per their report i am having hepatitis b positive.i went doctor he advised for further diagnosis(reports attached)after reports doctor advised me to take TENOFIR-300 for a year.i started to take same from 2nd july 2012
1.i was drinking only beers since 20 years.from feb 2012 to XXXXXXX 2012 i was taken avarage 4 beers/day.earlier it was less.
2.presently i am having good health.
3.how and when i infected .
4.i met sexually my wife and my girl friend 3 times in lost 6 months.what about them and how i protect from virus.
5.what about my health in future.
6.my father 40 years and mother 7 years ago dead with cancer.
7.what about my family members.

Answered by Dr. Dinesh Kumar Singal (3 hours later)

Dear XXXXXX,

Thanks for contacting Healthcare Magic with your queries.

Your doctor has prescribed you right medicine. You probably will need to take it for many years.

When exactly you got Hepatitis B infection is very difficult to ascertain, but definitely it must be before year 2000. Hepatitis B vaccination is protective in 95% of individuals, and before the vaccine one should check the status of HBsAg because if it is already positive then vaccine is of no use. 5% of individuals do not mount adequate antibody response to vaccine and despite vaccine can get infected.

You should not consume alcoholic drinks of any nature, as it will add to the damage done by hepatitis B infection. Though occasional (once a week) intake of small quantities (not more than one beer) can be allowed.

As for your family members, you should check their HBsAg status, if they are negative then they should be vaccinated with three doses at 0,1,6 month intervals. After the vaccination you should check the protection levels by getting anti HBs titre. This level should be more than 10.

Same applies to your wife and girl friend. Till the time they are immunized you should use condom during sex.

If you continue with Tenofovir and your virus levels become zero, then your liver should stay healthy, provided you continue with medicine and do not have any other liver damaging factors.

Hope my answers provide you with information you wanted.

Best wishes.

Dr Dinesh Singal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dinesh Kumar Singal (2 days later)

sir
thank you for answer.
any side effects with TENOFIR..any effect to my health due to my father and mother disease...if i am having HBsAg before year 2000...how my wife get HBsAg negative(tested on 2/7/2012)....can i go for any further test/daignosis.

Answered by Dr. Dinesh Kumar Singal (9 hours later)

Dear XXXXXX,

Thanks for contacting Healthcare Magic again.

Tenofir is quite safe. usually there are no side effects.

Chances are that you might be having HBsAg before year 2000 also, because you are positive inspite of vaccination in 2000. But it is also possible that you did not produce adequate antibody respone to vaccine and got the infection later. However, this possibility is less likely. It is not necessary that your wife would certainly have got infection from you, though she was certainly prone to get it.

You do not need any other test at the moment. Your gastroenterologist is treating you rightly and you should follow his advice for further testing during your follow up.

Best wishes,

Dr Dinesh Singal

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar