CDC to recommend parent choice for Hepatitis B vaccine

The vaccine advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is poised to recommend that the federal government drop guidance that all children be vaccinated for hepatitis B at birth.

The action would be a notable break with precedent. Since 1991, the CDC has recommended a universal hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns within the first 24 hours of birth. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the expert panel that advises the agency on vaccines, is slated to recommend “individual-based decision-making, in consultation with a healthcare provider,” for parents to decide to give the birth dose of the vaccine for hepatitis B-negative mothers. A vote was scheduled for Thursday, but was later delayed to Friday.