The decision to stop recommending the hepatitis B vaccine at birth affects real American families and weakens one of our most effective cancer-prevention tools (“Vaccine Panel Nixes Hepatitis B Guidance,” Page One, Dec. 6).
We spend hundreds of millions of dollars to find cures for cancer. The most common cause of liver cancer, a devastating disease, is hepatitis B: a virus that is fully preventable when a baby receives a safe, well-studied vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Once a baby is infected, he is infected for life, and there currently is no cure. That dangerous infection can later be passed to a spouse, child or even healthcare provider.
Those in support of the change argue that babies are low risk. Yet we know that screening during pregnancy misses cases, that some mothers are never tested and that some receive false negatives. Hepatitis B is a highly transmissible infection spread through blood or bodily fluids and can live on surfaces for days. Delayed vaccination misses the critical window during which defense is much needed. The birth dose has been safe and effective for more than 30 years, providing life-saving care for decades. There is no scientific evidence for changing the current medical requirements.
– Joe S. McIlhaney Jr., M.D.
This Letter to the Editor was originally published on The Wall Street Journal.