>Most of the vaccinations for childhood diseases have been successful and safe. The recent advent of vaccinations for hepatitis B didn’t make sense for children. It does make sense for an emergency services worker who might perform mouth to mouth CPR without any isolation equipment. Other than that, the principal persons at risk are IV drug users, prostitutes and promiscuous gays.<
I’m not advocating childhood Hep B vaccination, But I see about a dozen people a year with needle sticks who do not work in the medical field. Usually they are cleaning people or garbage men that are stuck by improperly disposed of needles. In these cases we blow through about $1200 of HBIG and start them on the Hep B vaccination. Works well for those who report the stick but I’m sure there are many that don’t report it.
Hep B is kind of scary, it is very persistent in the environment and easy to catch. About 20 years ago there was a medical student doing the sharp dull examination with a safety pin and managed to infect several patients with Hep B.
I’ve had the Hep B vaccinations which probably makes me feel more comfortable with giving it to my children. However,I would be in favor in court mandated vaccination for adults known to be at high risk rather than sticking all the kids. Hep B is a very expensive disease to treat and frequently, the population at most risk are the least able to pay for the treatment.
My sister is an OB nurse. She has done that for 28 years. Even though should always uses double gloves, she did manage a needle stick during an operation a few years ago. That's when the doctor informed her that the patient was HIV+. It was an unconscionable act to have an HIV+ patient on the operating table without notifying all the personnel in the room of that fact. Thus far, my sister has not exhibited any evidence of HIV infection from that stick.
I had to submit to TB skin tests and lung X-rays before being allowed to work in food service in high school. Your observation of the problem with needle sticks for janitorial or garbage collectors is valid. Employers of these people should recommend the HEP B vaccination to their employees. People in those occupations tend not to be well educated, so it would take some effort to explain the value.
BTW, my undergraduate degree is in molecular biology. I did my graduate work in pathogenic bacteriology, but I decided to shift to computer science/electrical engineering before starting my thesis. All the course work was completed.