New vaccine program to lessen mother-child transmission of hepatitis (Photo Credit: Creative Commons)

The miracle of childbirth sometimes comes with unintended and unfortunate dangers. One of which is the transfer of the hepatitis virus from an infected mother to her child.  Today,  a vaccination program has been developed which proves to be effective in preventing the transmission of chronic infection to newborn children born to women with hepatitis.

New York’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) is making great progress in the implementation of a vaccination program for babies born to women who have hepatitis B. The promising results of this program show an increasing trend of immunity among babies who have completed the series of vaccines.  According to the researchers at the Center, many infants responded well in spite of their intimate and repeated exposure to their mothers who carry the disease.

Over one million people in the United States are living with chronic hepatitis B.  About 40,000 new cases are reported every year. These numbers include affected babies of mothers with hepatitis B. The number of pregnant women with the hepatitis virus rose to 26,000 in 2008 from 19,000 in 1994. Without proper vaccines and preventive care, these women as well as their children are at a great risk of developing serious liver diseases such as liver cancer. This alarming upsurge calls for more aggressive ways to promote hepatitis screening among pregnant women, and to give vaccines to their children.

CDC’s vaccine is given to infants within twelve hours of their birth. Two or three more shots are later given after six months to one year from the initial vaccination. Those who had all the vaccines showed stronger resistance to hepatitis.  However, one major challenge that emerged is to make sure that the mothers diligently bring in their children to complete the series of vaccines.  CDC is making this program more accessible to families, however there is still a greater responsibility which lies in the hands of parents to access these services in order to protect their children.  For more information on infant vaccinations please visit http://www.cdc.gov.