Hepatitis B vaccination isn't routinely available as part of the NHS vaccination schedule. It's only offered to those thought to be at increased risk of hepatitis B or its complications.
The vaccine gives protection against the hepatitis B virus, which is a major cause of serious liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Who should be vaccinated against hepatitis B?
You can get infected with hepatitis B if you have contact with an infected person's blood or other body fluids. Babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B are also at risk of becoming infected.
People at risk of hepatitis B – and who should therefore consider vaccination – are:
- people who inject drugs or have a partner who injects drugs
- people who change their sexual partners frequently
- men who have sex with men
- babies born to infected mothers
- close family and sexual partners of someone with hepatitis B
- anyone who receives regular blood transfusions or blood products
- people with any form of liver disease
- people with chronic kidney disease
- people travelling to high-risk countries
- male and female sex workers
- people who work somewhere that places them at risk of contact with blood or body fluids, such as nurses, prison staff, doctors, dentists and laboratory staff
- prisoners
- families adopting or fostering children from high-risk countries
How to get vaccinated against hepatitis B
Ask your GP to vaccinate you, or visit any sexual health or genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic for the hepatitis B vaccination.
Find your local genitourinary medicine clinic.
If your job places you at risk of hepatitis B infection, it is your employer's responsibility to arrange vaccination for you, rather than your GP. Contact your occupational health department.
What does hepatitis B immunisation involve?
Full protection involves having three injections of hepatitis B vaccine over four to six months.
If you're a healthcare worker or you have kidney failure, you will be followed up to see if you have responded to the vaccine.
Anyone vaccinated by their own occupational health service can also request a blood test to see if they have responded to the vaccine.
Five-year boosters are recommended for anyone thought to be at continuing risk of infection.
Emergency hepatitis B vaccination
If you've been exposed to the hepatitis B virus and have not been vaccinated before, you should seek medical advice immediately as you may benefit from the hepatitis B vaccine.
In some situations, you may also need to have an injection of antibodies called specific hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) along with the hepatitis B vaccine.
HBIG should ideally be given within 48 hours, but you can still have it up to a week after exposure.
Babies and hepatitis B vaccination
Pregnant women have a routine blood test for hepatitis B as part of their antenatal care.
Babies born to mothers found to be infected with hepatitis B need to be given a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of their birth, followed by further doses at 1, 2 and 12 months old.
Babies of mothers identified by the blood test as particularly infectious might also receive an injection of HBIG at birth on top of the hepatitis B vaccination to give them rapid protection against infection.
All babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B should be tested at 12 months old to check if they have become infected with the virus.
Hepatitis B vaccination in pregnancy
Hepatitis B infection in pregnant women may result in severe disease for the mother and chronic infection for the baby, so it's advised that a pregnant woman should have the hepatitis B vaccine if she is in a high-risk category.
There is no evidence of any risk from vaccinating pregnant or breastfeeding women against hepatitis B. And since it's an inactivated (killed) vaccine, the risk to the unborn baby is likely to be negligible.
Hepatitis B vaccine on the NHS
Hospitals, GP surgeries and sexual health or GUM clinics usually provide the hepatitis B vaccination free of charge for anyone at risk of infection.
GPs are not obliged to provide the hepatitis B vaccine on the NHS if you're not thought to be at risk.
GPs may charge for the hepatitis B vaccine if you want it as a travel vaccine, or they may refer you to a travel clinic so you can get vaccinated privately. The current cost of the vaccine (in 2015) is around £40 a dose.
How safe is the hepatitis B vaccine?
The hepatitis B vaccine is very safe. Other than some redness and soreness at the site of the injection, side effects are rare. It is an inactivated (killed) vaccine, so it cannot cause the disease itself.
Read more about vaccine safety and side effects.