HEPATITIS Australia is among medical peak bodies urging Australians to maintain routine hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns, following moves in the US to end the longstanding recommendation that all babies get the vaccine on the day they are born.
The proposal by the US vaccine advisory committee - whose members were handpicked by health secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr - has sparked significant concern among health experts both in Australia and worldwide.
Since routine childhood vaccination began, hepatitis B rates in young people have fallen by a staggering 60%, and Hepatitis Australia CEO Lucy Clynes said it was vital for Australians to focus on the clear evidence and the strong 40-year track record of the hepatitis B vaccine in Australia for safety and effectiveness.
"Australia's hepatitis B vaccination program is safe, effective and has been proven to save lives," Clynes said.
"The birth dose remains an essential part of protecting babies from a virus that can quietly cause lifelong liver damage and even fatal liver cancer."
Clynes said parents need to know that there is no suggestion of any change to Australian recommendations.
"The evidence supporting birth dose vaccination is overwhelming and continues to be endorsed by Australia's foremost medical experts," she confirmed.
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