A very important meeting is underway as ACIP, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, decides whether the Hepatitis B vaccine — recommended for all newborns since 1991 — should continue to be given in the first days of life or whether that decision should ultimately be left to parents.
As of today, Hepatitis B vaccination is required for public school attendance in nearly every state in the United States. If ACIP votes to end the universal birth-dose recommendation and limit it only to infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B, that long-standing school mandate could be displaced to uncertain ground, since most states base their school requirements on ACIP recommendations.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection primarily transmitted through blood and bodily fluids, most commonly through sexual contact, needle sharing, or exposure during birth. Mothers are routinely tested during pregnancy to determine whether they are hepatitis B positive and at risk of transmitting the virus to their baby. And with only about 0.5% of births involving a mother who tests positive, it continues to raise questions about why the vaccine is recommended for every child on the first day of life.
Also, because newborns don’t engage in sexual activity or needle sharing, the universal vaccination recommendation has puzzled many parents for decades, who wonder why a sexually transmitted or bloodborne illness requires immunization at birth.
Many questions about the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine have been raised by figures such as Robert Kennedy Jr., Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Dr. Casey Means, and countless concerned parents.
But one CDC contractor, Dr. Cynthia Nevison, walked into the ACIP meeting and raised another critical question: has universal Hepatitis B vaccination, after 34 long years, even lowered Hepatitis B cases on a population level? Dr. Nevison’s answer to that question might surprise you.
And if not the vaccine, why did Hepatitis B cases plummet after 1991? Dr. Nevison addressed that question, too.
Hellbound and Down 