are there any other options apart from imunoglobin or vaccine for my baby?

[oyen1love]

My wife is almost due(EDD in two weeks) and after a routine blood test it was discovered she has hepatitis b. we are broken and down right now, we discovered there is a vaccine for the baby and imunoglobin that must be administered within 24hrs after delivery,  but it is very expensive right here in Nigeria and I won't be able to afford it in this short notice.  Please are there other options available and can I help our baby later if we don't take the vaccine and imunoglobin as soon as she is delivered?  Please I need advice,  I feel so lost.

[Cabin3]

You can look up reishi mushroom.  It is known to lower viral load.  If she can lower the viral load, she will have less potential to affect baby.  Babies are born with no immune system and will take time to build up.  If your baby doesn’t get vaccinated, just don’t chew food from mom and feed to baby.  Avoid blood contact.  And even though your baby gets it, hope not, people can leave be a long healthy life with having with healthy lifestyle.  But reishi mushroom has been heavily studied and very effective in lowering hbv viral load.

[Salisalem]

Hi
First of all i am very sorry to hear about your wife's condition ...
I undetstand your situation very well & how it is difficult to afford the vaccine & immunoglobulin for you but please please pleaaaaaaseeee take this very seriously ... your Baby MUST get both immunoglobulin + vaccine after delivery immediately within 24 hours (the sooner the better) ... if he does not get them, there is very very high risk that he will get hepatitis B from the mother ... and if a child gets infected with hepatitis B during infancy, the majority will turn to have chronic hepatitis B infection and will not clear the  infection because their immune system is still weak and can not fight the virus .. and i am sure the Dr there should have explaind the conequences of chronic hepatitis B infection including liver cirrhosis (that might affect the function of other organs and might require liver transpant at the end stage which is very costly and cmplicated in terms of finding a matched door + cost + finding a center tha does the transplant + post transplant  complications etc) and increased risk of liver cancer ... I do not want to scare you but please you should know all these to know the high importance of both immunoglobulin +  vaccine post delieey for your child and MUST not underestimate this issue at all ... It is better to take the vaccine and immunoglobulin after the delivery (that can help to decrease the risk of hepatitis B infection) now than later on regretting that you lost this opportunity and being sorry for that till the rest of your life ..  I am sure you love your baby and want the best for him and you are concerned and do not want to see him in pain when he grows up ..
Please find a way to get him vaccinated + recieve the immunoglobulin it is very important .. I can not stress on the high importance of this thing anymore .. I had a young patient coming from Nigeria with chronic hepatitis B infection compliacted to liver cirrhosis and advanced stage of liver cancer and he was ready to do anything to just cure his disease which was very late for him unfortunately and his liver cancer stage was advanced and he was not fit for liver transplant even ...

By the way with all my respect, i am truly sorry to say this but unfortunately nothing else has proven or shown to reduce the risk of infection including herbals ... your wife might wish to try the herbals but it will not reduce the risk of infevtion ...unfortunately nothing helps except both the immunoglobulin and vaccine
I hope you take this very seriuosly after this long discussion
Feel free to ask anything
Good luck

[Salisalem]

By the way your wife should avoid breastfeeding the child post delivery because it gets transmitted through body fluids including breast milk .. please if in the hospital they tried to make her breastfeed him, please avoid that especially if it was before reciecing the immunoblobulin and the vaccine ... you can give baby forumula instead of breast milk .. not even try braedtfeeding even if it was for one time only

[Salisalem]

That was rearding the baby ... now regarding you .. As unfortunately your wife is infected with hepatitis B, you should get tested for hepatitis B immediately to check whether you have  it or no .. If you tested negative, please get vaccinated immediately .. by the way hepatitis B vaccine is a 3 dose vaccine .. the 2nd dose is given 1 month after the 1st dose and the 3rd dose is given after 6 months .. so it is given through 6 months .. It is important to know that if you are negative for hepatitis B and went for vaccinatiom, please better to avoid anykind of sexual activity with your wife (being it vaginal,  anal, oral or even kissing) till you get the 3 doses of the vaccine ! 1 dosw of vaccine is not protective you should get all 3 doses and then after 1 month of the last dose get tested for the level of the protevtive antibody in your blood that should be produced as a result of vaccination (test is named Anti HBsAg or HBsAg antibody titer .. the protective level is above 10-20 but the ideal level should be above 100 .. this means that if ur antibody level is below 100, you should get boster dose aftee the 3rd dose to make ur antibody above 100 .. ) .. better to avoid any forms of sex (if you tested egative for hepatitis B) till u get vaccinated and have your antibody level checked making sure it is in the optimal range (above 100) ... i know it is difficult situation but if you cannt avoid sexual activity then you can have protective sexual activity (both of you having condoms ) to avoid ezposure to by fluids ... hepatitis B is transmotted through exposure to blood,  sexual or body fluids of infected person including saliva and kissing ... and aslo from infected preganat woman to the child ..

[Salisalem]

Regarding your partner, it is important to seek medical advice to get treated for hepatitis B ...  i do not know the status of her hepatitis B it is acute or chronic but anyways she should get treated .. she should be educated about ways of transmission and avoid sharing her personal items (that could be contaminated by her blood or body fluis with anyone nor you or anyone else .. these iems include but not restricted to: tooth brush & tooth paste, razor, siccors etc) .. it is also important that she should try to keep any cuts or wounds in her body covered to avoid transmitting the virus to others in case somebody touched her wound by mistake .. also important to wash her hands or body parts that get stained with her blood or body fluids .. she should avoid bite (biting othersal ... hepatitis B is highly infectious and can be even transmitted through cobtact with dry blood .. it can survive outside body up to 7 days ...
Many people are living with hepatitis B .. she has to take treatment to keep the virus in undetectable level to get the disease contolled .. i do not know which stage of hepatitis B she is in but sometimes with help of medications some people can totally cure the virus and get disease free forever depending on many factors
You can read about hepatitis B & know more about its ways of transmission and treatment and otger issues in internet to educate your self ..
U forgot to say that Also anybody if living with ur wife in same house or the close cobtacts should get tested like you and if begative for hepatitis B, get vaccinated immedately and follow same advice given for you..

Sorry for the long discussion but i hope everything is clear for you know ..

[Salisalem]

*close contacts
Sorry for lots of spelling mistakes as I am typing fast ..

Add on point: if you tested negative for hepatitis B and considered having protective sexual activity (both of you using condoms) pleasw bear in mind that you could still get the infection if you got exposed to fluids during or after sex in any way (break in condom, inproper placement of condomz etc) so be very careful ..
Consider discussing with your wife &
You can refer to the Dr there for any further questions

Good luck