As the CDC Advisory Committee meets to discuss recommendations for hepatitis B vaccine timelines, several Pennsylvania agencies have asked the CDC to not change current guidelines.
The Pennsylvania Secretary for the Department of Health, Human Services, and Insurance Department have all signed a letter criticizing any change to current recommendations.
The current recommendation has been in place since 1991 and has seen a 99 percent decrease in hepatitis B in children and teens.
The vaccine is given to infants and according to John Hopkins University, nine in 10 infants not vaccinated will contract hepatitis B in the first year of life.
The letter said “such a change would jeopardize decades of progress and risk increased transmission, elevated rates of chronic disease, and higher long-term costs to individuals and the healthcare system.”
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