CDC panel recommends delaying first dose to two months for babies born to hepatitis B-negative mothers
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee voted last week to revise hepatitis B immunization guidance for newborns, recommending that babies born to mothers without hepatitis B receive their first dose at two months old instead of within the first 24 hours.
For more than 30 years, doctors have advised giving newborns the hepatitis B vaccine immediately after birth. Now, pediatricians like Dr. Elizabeth Hawse are questioning the timing of this change.
Kentucky pediatrician raises concerns
“Honestly anymore I’m not surprised, because the CDC website and the CDC in general is not something I’ve been able to depend on for information now for some number of months,” Hawse said.
She explained that the timing is a medical recommendation, not a requirement, but doctors encourage parents to follow it for important reasons.
“There’s no cure for hepatitis B, so prevention is really the only treatment here,” she said.
Understanding hepatitis B transmission
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects liver function and spreads through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids.
Hawse said roughly half of babies who contract hepatitis B—despite their mothers testing negative—pick it up from their environment.
“Hepatitis B is something that lives on surfaces for seven days unless you know to clean them with bleach, so this is a sort of thing where a child bleeds on a surface, your child touches it and has a cut on their hand and gets hepatitis B,” she explained.
She added that the virus often goes unnoticed because symptoms rarely appear until severe liver damage occurs. That’s why she continues to encourage early vaccination.
“I will just continue as before unless somebody gives me a good set of data or scientific reasoning about why we should change what we’re doing,” Hawse said.
Recommendations from the advisory committee now move to the CDC director for approval. Final decisions will ultimately be made and enforced at the state level.
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