Hepatitis B shift an appalling mistake

I am appalled that a federal vaccine advisory committee has recommended that not all babies need to get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they are born [“LI medical experts worry about vaccine change,” News, Dec. 6]. The vaccine is safe and effective — no data suggests otherwise.

If an infant contracts hepatitis B during birth and does not get the birth dose, that baby’s immature immune system does not recognize the virus and does not mount a response. Infection in infants carries about a 25% lifelong risk of liver cancer or cirrhosis.

The current federal panel, all appointed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, claims that the birth dose will be administered only to infants whose mothers test positive during pregnancy

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