Unlike many other infectious diseases for which vaccines have been developed, hepatitis B is a blood-transmitted infection that is rare in childhood. Adults engaging in IV drug use and sex with multiple partners are at the highest risk for hepatitis B infection, as are healthcare workers exposed to infected blood, persons requiring repeated blood transfusions, and residents and staff of crowded institutions like prisons.
In 1991, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that all newborns be given a hepatitis B shot within 12 hours of birth based on a fear by public health officials that all hepatitis B infected women in the U.S. were not being screened and identified before giving birth.
Newborns are not at risk for hepatitis B infection unless they are born to a mother infected with the hepatitis B virus or are given a blood transfusion that is contaminated with hepatitis B. However, babies born to hepatitis B infected mothers are also at risk for hepatitis B infection. All pregnant women need to know if they are or are not infected with hepatitis B before they give birth. The CDC also recommends that all women during each pregnancy be screened for hepatitis B to prevent infant infections and estimates that 88% of pregnant women are screened.
Get screened to find out whether or not you are infected with hepatitis B, and if you do not want your baby to be vaccinated for hepatitis B right after birth, take your negative test results with you to the hospital or birthing facility you have chosen and request in writing that your newborn not receive a hepatitis B shot at birth. If the birthing facility agrees, ensure that your written birthing plan and newborn care plan include the understanding by staff that no hepatitis B vaccine will be given to your newborn before discharge.
To learn more about hepatitis B and hepatitis B vaccine, visit our hepatitis B web pages.
