By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) – An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has postponed a vote on a proposed change to the hepatitis B vaccination schedule for infants, which would have delayed the first dose from within 24 hours of birth to a later point in infancy or childhood, unless the mother is known to be infected.

Here’s what you need to know about the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the vaccines.

WHAT IS HEPATITIS B?

HBV attacks the liver and is the leading cause of liver cancer worldwide. Many infected people do not have symptoms and do not realize they are infected. In most adults who acquire the virus, the infection resolves on its own. But it becomes chronic in more than 90% of infants and in up to 50% of young children who become infected.

Decades af

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