The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is considering delaying hepatitis B vaccines for newborns.
For more than three decades, the agency has recommended that all infants receive a hepatitis B vaccine shortly after birth.
A group of researchers conducted a modeling study to assess the impacts of delaying the vaccine. The study has not yet been peer reviewed, but it found that delaying the vaccine by even two months could lead to more than 1,400 preventable hepatitis B infections and more than $222 million in additional health care costs.
Eric Hall is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. He led the study and joins us with more details.
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