"On Friday an influential vaccine advisory panel voted to change the recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Under the new guidance from the panel, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention almost always adopts, parents would need to consult with a health care provider about when to give a baby their first dose of the vaccineso long as the person who gave birth to the baby tested negative for the disease."
"That would scrap current CDC policy that all babies receive the hepatitis B vaccine hours after birth. The vote passed with eight in favor and three against. The new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) guidance recommends that the three-dose vaccine regimen begin at no earlier than two months of age for those infants. ACIP members also passed a second vote to recommend that parents discuss subsequent doses with a health care provider based on blood tests of the newborn's immunity levels (protective antibody titers)."
An advisory committee voted to change newborn hepatitis B vaccination guidance so that infants whose mothers test negative would no longer routinely receive a birth dose. The new guidance recommends beginning the three-dose regimen no earlier than two months of age for those infants and urges parents to consult a health care provider about timing. ACIP also recommended that subsequent doses be determined based on newborn protective antibody titers measured by blood tests. The vote passed eight to three. Critics warned the wording change could cause harm. The CDC typically adopts ACIP guidance and had not yet responded to requests for comment.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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