Hepatitis B's silent threat to infants

Hepatitis B can pass from mother to child at birth or through infected blood.Up to 90% of babies infected before age one develop chronic, lifelong infection.

“Among babies infected before they turn 1, up to 90% develop a chronic, potentially lifelong infection”

CDC changes vaccination guidance in December 2025

The U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Trump Administration moved to cease recommending hepatitis B vaccination within 24 hours of birth for babies born to mothers who test negative.

“a dose shortly after birth, or a first dose "no earlier than 2 months of age."”

Study models impact of new guidelines

A new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine uses computer modeling to simulate hepatitis B infection status of an entire year's worth of U.S.

Chronic cases could rise 225 percent

If only about 26% of children are vaccinated under shared decision-making, the study finds chronic hepatitis B cases would rise by 225% compared to current vaccination rates.

“chronic hepatitis B cases would rise by 225%”

Compounding effect over multiple years

Dr. Amir Mohareb, an infectious-disease researcher at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, warns that if this pattern repeats year after year, thousands of new infections could accumulate, leading to lifelong chronic infection and…

“Imagine that happening year after year after year after year. That could quickly become thousands and thousands of new infections”

Other studies show economic and screening costs

Two other recent modeling studies found that delaying the first dose by two months would yield an additional 16.4 million dollars in health care spending on new infections.

“delaying the first dose by 2 months yielded an additional $16.4 million in health care spending on new infections”