Auglaize health board skeptical of new hep B guidance

WAPAKONETA - Less than a week after a federal vaccine advisory committee voted against a longstanding vaccine recommendation, Auglaize County Board of Health members pushed back against the decision.

The U.S. government has long advised that all babies be immunized against hepatitis B right after birth. But last week, a federal vaccine advisory committee voted to do away with that recommendation.

The group, whose current members were all appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recommends a dose at birth only for babies whose mothers test positive for the virus or whose infection status is unknown.

For other babies, it will be up to the parents and their doctors to decide. The committee voted to suggest that when a family decides not to get a newborn dose, then the shots should begin when the child is 2 months old.

At the Auglaize health board's regular meeting on Tuesday morning, county medical director Dr. Juan Torres decried the recent vote and explained that in the 30 years since the hepatitis B vaccine was commercially introduced, there is "no documented data that shows (it has) produced any harm."

"We have a disease that is very contagious, that can destroy the liver, or that can produce cancer in the liver. The vaccine can be given early in life and protect that individual for many, many, many years," he said. "No matter what your political situation, or what you believe or what newscast you hear, the hepatitis B vaccine is a good vaccine and it's worth it to take it and give to your children."

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a serious liver infection that, for most people, lasts less than six months. But for some, especially infants and children, it can become a long-lasting problem that can lead to liver failure, liver cancer and scarring called cirrhosis.

In adults, the virus is spread through sex or through sharing needles during injection drug use. But it can also be passed from an infected mother to a baby.

In 1991, the committee recommended an initial dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Experts say quick immunization is crucial to prevent infection from taking root. And, indeed, cases in children have plummeted.

The first hepatitis B vaccine, a heat-treated form of the virus, was developed in 1969, four years after the virus was discovered in 1965 by Dr. Baruch Blumberg, a hepb.org vaccine history states. The FDA approved a more sophisticated plasma-derived HBV vaccine in 1981 for human use.

Further research resulted in a second generation of genetically engineered vaccines in 1986, which are used today, per hepb.org. It is impossible to get HBV from the modern vaccine, as it is synthetically prepared and does not contain blood products.

Tuesday's discussion was particularly relevant to Auglaize County, as nursing director Jessica Whetstone informed health board members in her report that her department is monitoring a baby born last month to a woman that is hepatitis B positive.

"The mother was previously positive. She had other children that she was positive with, and (she received) no prenatal care," she said. "We will follow this baby for a year."

That particular situation proves that HBV remains a relevant issue and that the universal vaccine recommendation is still needed, Torres said.

Perinatal transmission can be prevented by screening for infection during every pregnancy, according to a CDC handout from 2021. Infants born to women with an active HBV infection should receive HBV immune globulin and a dose of single-antigen hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of birth, followed by a complete series of the hepatitis B vaccine, which is up to 94% effective in preventing perinatal transmission.

"Hepatitis B is more contagious than HIV," Torres said. "If you get stuck with a needle of Hepatitis B, there is a one in 20 chance of developing it. If you get stuck with a needle full of HIV, it's one in 300, more or less."

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a liver doctor who chairs the Senate health committee, called the vaccine advisory committee's vote on the hepatitis B vaccine "a mistake."

"This makes America sicker," he said, in a post on social media.

The vaccine committee heard a 90-minute presentation from Aaron Siri, a lawyer who has worked with Kennedy on vaccine litigation. He ended by saying that he believes there should be no vaccine recommendations at all from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Health board member and pediatrician Dr. Kyle Maus said he believes the country's growing aversion to vaccines is derived from a lack of trust and education.

"And just, not caring. The degree of parenting, I feel, has gone down. The newer generation, we're more friends with our kids than parents and I feel like we don't do what's in the best interest of kids," Maus said. "Social media and technology are an issue. These parents get into an echo chamber and they start just talking about the same things and they refuse to have taken outside information. I have a lot of patients that trust Dr. Google over me. Basically, I'm just fighting what they're reading online. A majority of the time they're coming from sites that aren't data driven, not research driven, things like that. It's a problem."

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued its own recommendations for youngsters. Other medical groups - plus some city and state public health departments that have banded together - also are issuing their own advice on certain vaccines, which largely mirrors pre-2025 federal guidance.

While the vaccine advisory committee issued its official recommendation last week, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jim O'Neill has not yet announced whether it will be adopted as the agency's official policy.

Ohio law currently requires all K-12 students be fully vaccinated against HBV, in addition to nine other vaccine-preventable diseases.

-The Associated Press contributed to this report.