THE HEPATITIS B VACCINE – LA COUNTY TAKES A STAND

In December of last year the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health rejected the U.S Center’s for Disease Control’s vaccine advisory committee recommendation that the Hepatitis B vaccine be removed from the recommended list of vaccines for newborns.

The county’s Department of Public Health criticized the CDS’s decision and described it as a “return to selective, risk based newborn vaccination,” which officials argued was “not based on new evidence suggesting that the hepatitis vaccine birth dose is unsafe or ineffective.” County health officials further noted that because of its use, Hepatitis B infections are extremely rare, recording only one case in the past 5 years.

Infants infected with hepatitis B at birth can face a high risk of lifelong consequences. Up to 90% develop chronic hepatitis B compared with 5=10% of adults and at least 25% die prematurely from cirrhosis or hepatocellular cancer – which can be prevented when early immunization is reliably delivered.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and chair emerita of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, criticized the CDC’s decision as “reckless and dangerous.” She went on to say that “this decision will also disproportionally impact the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community who make up 7% of the U.S. population, yet account for 60% of chronic hepatitis B cases. Abandoning this standard will reverse decades of progress and widen racial health disparities that we have spent generations trying to close.“

As things stand, the LA County Department of Public Health will continue to adhere to its recommendation of the vaccine, stating that the hepatitis B vaccine is safe and has been a cornerstone of perinatal hepatitis B prevention in the U.S. for over 3 decades.

As always, Save a Little Life™ strongly encourages new parents to speak with their pediatricians regarding the safety of vaccines and their use for newborns.