Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanPi  I was infected with Hepatitis B at birth, so my Anti-HBc had been positive, indicating resolved complications.
However, a year ago I had a blood test, and the Anti-HBs showed borderline, so I had my doctor scheduled me for Hep A & B vaccinations. Now 3 months after vaccination, I had another complete blood test. It still shows Anti-HBs is Borderline. What does it mean and what could happen? I am currently fighting digestive disorders (probably caused by gallbladder) would there be any relations?
Please advise, thanks in advance! |
Hi Alanpi,
This is truly a strange situation. How do you know that you were infected with Hepatitis B at birth? Almost uniformly, those patients who were infected with Hep B at birth are chronic carriers of the infection. In other words, you have been exposed, your immune system was NOT able to clear it, and now you have the virus in the blood, liver and lymph nodes for life. There is no point vaccinating you against Hepatitis B at this point, because it is in your body to stay.
If you were one of the VERY lucky people to have been infected with Hep B as a child and cleared it, (this happens in <10% of cases) your hepatitis serology should look like:
Hepatitis B Surface Antigen negative (HBSAg)
Hepatitis B Surface Antibody positive (HBSAb)
Hepatitis B Core Antibody positive (HBCAb)
If that is your profile, it doesn't really matter if your surface antibody is borderline because you are already immune. The only time "borderline" titres of your surface ANTIBODY are important is for someone who has never been infected with Hepatitis B, and is getting a needle vaccination.
If you are in fact correct that you got infected with Hep B at birth, it is VERY important for your family doctor to figure that you are either:
#1. Someone who was infected with the virus as a child and then CLEARED it totally
#2. Someone who was infected with the virus and is a chronic active carrier of hepatitis B.
In either #1 or #2, there is no point in getting the vaccine.
Just another tidbit: when babies/children get infected with HBV, 90% of them go on to become chronic carriers while 10% clear it. These percentages are essentially reversed when an adult gets infected with it.
