WATERBURY – Vermont health officials are recommending health care providers continue to protect children from hepatitis B, a highly contagious virus that infects the liver, through the current, evidence-based vaccination schedule.
“In partnership with Vermont’s health care community, pediatric care providers and our counterparts across the region, we want to make clear for parents and practitioners that our current vaccine recommendations offer the best protection for newborns and infants against serious diseases like hepatitis B,” said Health Commissioner Rick Hildebrant, MD.
The hepatitis B vaccine is widely considered one of the safest and most effective vaccines ever made. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the vaccine for all infants since 1991, and rates of the disease which can cause lifelong liver damage when contracted by newborns and infants, have fallen sharply in the U.S. following widespread adoption of the current schedule.
The childhood vaccine schedule currently recommended by state and federal health officials, and supported by expert organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, calls for a hepatitis B vaccine dose within 24 hours of birth and recommends that all children complete the full vaccination series within 18 months.
“I know many people have questions about vaccines, especially for their children. This vaccine is not only safe, it is lifesaving,” said Dr. Hildebrant. “The CDC has long been a trusted source of evidence-based information for the public, and it is my hope that ACIP will join me in continuing to recommend this proven practice to our partners at the CDC.”
