Key US Panel to Cast Ballots on Changing Baby Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation
Following a delay and a particularly heated meeting, a federal vaccine advisory panel was scheduled to decide on Friday on whether to change the long-held guideline that every infant be inoculated against hepatitis B.
Heated Debate and a Delayed Ballot
The opening session of the conference on Thursday was defined by heated debate over restricting access to the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns and a resolution to defer the vote by a day to provide committee members extra time to review the wording. The group, which guides the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on immunization practices, had put off the vote twice in the past.
“Is there any concrete proof of harm of giving this shot before 30 days? Or is this theory?” inquired one panel member.
In reply, another member stated, “There is inadequate data about the long-term risk.”
Current Guidelines and Possible Consequences
The injection is presently advised for each baby within 24 hours of delivery to stop transmission of hepatitis B, which can cause major damage to the liver. It has been administered to more than a billion persons for over thirty years.
The Atlanta conference offered no recent proof of injuries resulting from the vaccine. Authorities state any change to the existing hepatitis B vaccination schedule could have major and extensive consequences for childhood health in the United States.
Group Membership and Recent Changes
The advisory panel can only provide advice to the leader of the CDC. The committee's composition has undergone changes in recent days, with the declaration that the panel's latest chairman would depart for an formal position and be replaced by a cardiologist who has been skeptical about other vaccines.
The board includes a number of immunization doubters who support a desire to overhaul – and potentially, in some cases, eliminate – longstanding immunization guidelines.
