A new U.S. policy that recommends offering hepatitis B vaccine at birth only to babies perceived to be at risk of neonatal infection will lead to increased numbers of infected infants and more cases of chronic hepatitis B infection in children that will generate millions of extra dollars in health care costs, two studies published Monday project.
“Avoiding an increase in neonatal infections under the targeted recommendation would require historically unattained levels of maternal [hepatitis B] screening or birth-dose coverage among infants of unscreened mothers,” said one of the studies, from researchers at Boston University, the University of Florida, and Johns Hopkins University.
