Researchers at the University of Minnesota are urging federal health advisors to maintain the longstanding recommendation to give the hepatitis B vaccine 24 hours after birth. Earlier this fall, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said it was considering a recommendation to delay the vaccine for babies, without substantial evidence.

U of M epidemiologists and experts reviewed 400 documents over 40 years of hepatitis B implementation and found there is no benefit to delaying the vaccine.

“We found that the vaccine administered at birth has a strong safety profile,” said Angela Ulrich, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota. “It's very effective at preventing perinatal transmission of hepatitis B.”

The federal advisory committee said they

See Full Page