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Hepatitis B is a silent liver infection that can cause serious illness, including cancer. A pediatric infectious disease expert explains how it spreads, why the vaccine is given at birth, and how it protects babies for life.

A group of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to vote on whether the agency should scrap its long-standing recommendation that every baby get a hepatitis B vaccination within 24 hours of birth.

The shot — universally recommended for newborns in the U.S since the early 1990s — is credited with driving down cases of acute hepatitis B infections in kids by 99% . The virus, which can be passed from mother to baby during childbirth, can lead to liver disease and early death. There is no cure.

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