Despite a change from a federal advisory panel, Wisconsin health officials recommend all newborns should be vaccinated against hepatitis B.
“DHS continues to recommend that all newborns receive the Hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, and then go on to complete the standard three dose series within the first 18 months of life,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer in the Department of Health Services Bureau of Communicable Diseases. “This recommendation is grounded in decades of research showing that the vaccine is safe and effective, and it aligns with guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other leading medical groups.”
DHS issued the recommendation following a vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC which reversed decades old federal policy. “Since universal newborn vaccination was adopted in the early 1990s, pediatric hepatitis B infections have declined by 99%,” Westergaard said.
DHS has sent a memo to providers, and Westergaard doesn’t expect the current rate of 77% of Wisconsin newborns receiving an initial vaccine dose to decrease. “But it’s important to understand the consequence of not giving the vaccine, which is that even a small number of cases of chronic hepatitis B infection in young people can come with pretty significant healthcare costs.”
A Hepatitis B infection can lead to lifelong liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer, and infants and young children are particularly at high risk. Westergaard said parents who have questions about the vaccine should talk to their pediatrician or family health care provider.