OPB’s First Look: CDC panel pulls universal newborn hep B shots

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Good morning, Northwest.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has decided to stop recommending hepatitis B vaccines for all newborns.

This decision came just months after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all sitting committee members and replaced them with some who are vaccine skeptics.

What could this mean for infants? Eric Hall, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, talked with Dave Miller on “Think Out Loud” about the potential impact.

Plus, after a sudden drop in returning salmon on the Coquille River, a new Oregon law will allow old-fashioned hatchboxes to return. OPB’s Kristian Foden-Vencil has more details.

Here’s your First Look at Saturday’s news.

— Winston Szeto

Oregon expert weighs in on CDC decision ending universal newborn hep B vaccines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted yesterday morning to stop recommending hepatitis B vaccines for all newborns.

Under the new guidelines, the vaccine would only be recommended for infants whose mothers test positive for hepatitis B or, possibly, whose status is unknown. The advisory committee’s decision needs to be approved by the CDC’s acting director for it to take effect.

A group of researchers conducted a modeling study to assess the impacts of delaying the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that delaying the vaccine by even two months could lead to more than 1,400 preventable hepatitis B infections and more than $222 million in additional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, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, led the study. He recently joined Dave Miller of OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to talk about what the changes could mean for hepatitis B infection rates in the U.S. (Gemma DiCarlo)

Learn more

Related: Washington, other West Coast states, go against CDC, recommend hepatitis B vaccine for all newborns (Eilis O’Neill)

3 things to know this morning

• If you live in Northwest Oregon or Southwest Washington, you may want to clean your gutters and clear out your storm drains this weekend. The National Weather Service says heavy rain will be arriving in the region starting Monday, and that could mean flooding. The culprit: what experts call an atmospheric river. (Courtney Sherwood) 
• A series of job postings for an immigration detention facility in the Portland area appear to show the federal government’s latest efforts to expand its operations in Oregon. Job postings from Acuity International, a federal contractor, state the firm is hiring a warden/facility director to “serve as primary liaison with ICE officials, legal representatives, and community partners.” (Conrad Wilson and Alex Zielinski) 
• The Clark County Jail will no longer be used to hold inmates whose crimes originated outside the county, after questions arose in November about three protesters who were arrested at the Portland ICE facility and then transported to the Vancouver jail by federal officials. (Erik Neumann)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• East Portland councilors unveil $21 million proposal to address homelessness (Alex Zielinski) 
• Lawsuit accuses PGE, Tillamook Creamery of fueling nitrate pollution in Eastern Oregon drinking water (Antonio Sierra) 
• Astoria’s Tongue Point Job Corps Center welcomes back students (Katie Frankowicz) 
• Ashland Community Hospital to shut birth center, sparking outcry (Justin Higginbottom) 
• Large-scale solar farm in central Washington gets green light from governor (Jerry Cornfield) 
• Violent crime is on the decline in Washington state and nationwide (Amy Radil) 
• Cade Cunningham has 29 points and 9 assists in Pistons’ 122-116 win over Trail Blazers (Dave Hogg)

Oregon fisheries try old technology to boost salmon returns

On a tributary of the Clatskanie River, near Astoria, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has set up a “hatchbox.”

It’s basically six large barrels: three that filter the stream water and three that carry trays of salmon eggs so the water can flow over them.

Older Oregonians may remember hatchboxes from school, where they were used to illustrate the salmon’s lifecycle.

But over the years hatchboxes have fallen out of favor, largely because the fish they release compete with wild salmon.

Tom Stahl, with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said hatchboxes can be useful tools in the attempt to restore salmon to local waterways. (Kristian Foden-Vencil)

Learn more

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