in males only. The brain of the newborn infant is still growing, and stress at birth can trigger changes in how it develops.
Hep B vaccine is given at birth to prevent transmission of Hep B from the mother to the baby to prevent chronic Hep B. This is a big problem in the Third World where a lot of people including young women have Hep B. However, in the U.S. , most women have had Hep B vaccine and are immune, meaning they can not give the disease to their babies, so why are we giving a vaccine at birth to babies for something they will not encounter until they become sexually active? Because decades ago, someone did a study which showed that it was cheaper to vaccination every baby born in an inner city hospital with a high number of drug addicted women than it was to test the mothers and give the vaccines to the babies of those who tested positive for Hep B. Yes, I wrote cheaper. Not safer. Not more effective. The universal Hep B vaccine was a cheaper way to vaccinate---at a time when few women had received the Hep B vaccine yet.
I am not an anti-vaccer. I believe that every other vaccine which we use is given at the right time and in the right way. However, Hep B vaccine prevents an std--like the HPV vaccine. We do not give HPV vaccine to baby's at birth. We should only be giving Hep B vaccine at birth to baby's of mother's who test positive--and it is very easy to test a woman who comes in to deliver a baby. You can do it along with the HIV test and the Type and Screen.
But by all means, go ahead and declare that I am an anti-vaxxer. It won't change the truth--or the fact the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends delaying that first Hepatitis B vaccine in premature infants--even though there is no point in giving it if you do not give it at birth since it's only job is to prevent maternal to baby transmission of a disease that very few American women have. You have to ask yourself--what is it about giving the Hep B vaccine at birth to preemies that has the AAP so worried that they would take the chance that the newborn might contract Hep B?
You will not hear anyone in public health talk about the results of this study, because they are afraid of starting a panic. But I recommend that any mother giving birth tell her baby's pediatrician "I know that I am immune to Hep B, so let's hold off on that one."
= new reply since forum marked as read