Hepatitis B inoculation of firefighters - Allotment of funds accruing from insurance premium surcharge proceeds - Qualifications for allotment - Firefighters training center fund - Reimbursement for equipment losses - Low-interest loan fund.
Hepatitis B is a potentially serious infection of the liver that can cause chronic liver disease and can lead to liver cancer. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and jaundice. However, many people who become infected have no symptoms. A small number of people infected with hepatitis B will carry the virus for life and can unknowingly spread the disease to others. The younger a person is when becoming infected, the greater the risk of chronic infection, chronic liver disease and liver cancer. The disease is spread through exposure to infected blood and body fluids. Hepatitis B can be spread by sharing toothbrushes, needles or razors that belong to an infected person; through contact with infected blood such as health care workers at a health care setting; using equipment that has not been sterilized for body-piercing or tattooing; having sex with a person who has hepatitis B; or by an infected mother to her baby during childbirth. A baby born to a mother who has hepatitis B has a 90 percent chance of getting the disease. Those babies infected have a 90 percent chance of becoming chronically infected and 25 percent will die of chronic liver disease as adults. Immunization at birth is important for prevention of the disease.
Vaccine for Hepatitis B
The hepatitis B vaccine was licensed in 1982. As of September 1997, a three-shot series of hepatitis B vaccine is required for all children entering kindergarten for the first time, as well as for all children attending preschools or licensed child care facilities. In 1998, this applied to first graders who had not previously been vaccinated. In 1999, this ruling applied to second graders; in 2000, it applies to third graders, and so on. This yearly "step" increment is designed to "catch up" with those who missed getting immunized as infants. The three dose series is usually given over 6 months.
