"For more than 30 years, the CDC has advised that infants get the first of three shots of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. In that time, the potentially fatal disease has been virtually eradicated among American children. Between 1990 and 2022, case rates plummeted 99 percent among people age 19 and younger. Pediatricians warn that waiting until age 4 to begin vaccination opens the door to more children contracting the virus."
"The vote is expected to take place Thursday during the next meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. The meeting is scheduled for September 18-19 at a CDC office in Atlanta, Georgia. "Age four makes zero sense," said pediatrician Eric Ball, who practices in Orange County, California. "We recommend a universal approach to prevent those cases where a test might be incorrect or a mother might have unknowingly contracted hepatitis. It's really the best way to keep our entire population healthy.""
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced members of a federal vaccine advisory panel that is expected to vote to recommend delaying the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose until age four. The ACIP meeting is scheduled for September 18-19 in Atlanta. For more than 30 years the CDC has recommended the birth dose, coinciding with a 99 percent drop in hepatitis B cases among people under 20 between 1990 and 2022. Pediatricians warn that postponing the birth dose could increase pediatric infections. The panel will also consider combined MMRV and COVID vaccine recommendations, prompting access and schedule concerns.
Read at www.npr.org
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