CDC advisory panel delays vote on hepatitis B vaccines
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The best way to prevent hepatitis B infection is vaccination. The vaccines are highly effective at preventing infection in infants and for long-term protection into adulthood.
The federal vaccine panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is likely to decide on Thursday that the shots should be delayed for infants whose mothers test negative for the virus.
A vote on the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns has been pushed to Friday. Advisors say the wording kept changing, and they were confused about exactly what they were being asked to vote on.
Hepatitis B is a liver infection that inflames the organ and impacts its ability to function. It can be either acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term), and is estimated to impact between 880,000 and 1.89 million people in the United States. Those who ...
The first shot in the multi-dose vaccine has been recommended at birth for decades, but that could soon change.