Crucial US Panel to Decide on Changing Baby Hepatitis B Vaccine Advisory
Following a postponement and a remarkably divisive session, a national immunization advisory committee was expected to vote on Friday on whether to change the long-held guideline that all newborns be inoculated against hepatitis B.
Intense Discussion and a Postponed Decision
The initial day of the assembly on Thursday was marked by heated debate over curbing eligibility to the hepatitis B vaccine for babies and a resolution to postpone the decision by a day to allow panelists additional time to review the wording. The panel, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on immunization practices, had put off the vote twice in the past.
“Is there any concrete proof of damage of giving this immunization before 30 days? Or is this theory?” inquired one committee member.
In answer, another member stated, “There is inadequate data about the enduring danger.”
Current Guidelines and Possible Consequences
The shot is currently recommended for all infants within 24 hours of being born to stop transmission of hepatitis B, which can result in significant hepatic injury. It has been provided to over a billion individuals for more than three decades.
The Atlanta conference presented no recent proof of injuries resulting from the vaccine. Experts say any modification to the present hepatitis B vaccination schedule could have significant and far-reaching implications for infant and child health in the United States.
Committee Makeup and Recent Changes
The expert committee can only make recommendations to the head of the CDC. The group's roster has undergone changes in recent days, with the announcement that the panel's latest chairman would leave for an formal position and be substituted with a heart specialist who has been questioning of other inoculations.
The panel includes several immunization doubters who align with a goal to reform – and perhaps, in some cases, scrap – longstanding vaccine advisories.
