CDC advisers are meeting to weigh major change to the childhood vaccine schedule
CNN
Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are meeting today, and they could vote on possible changes to the childhood vaccination schedule. Follow here for live updates from the meeting.
• Today’s meeting: Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are meeting today, the first of two days, and are expected to vote on a major change to the childhood vaccination schedule. • On the schedule: An updated agenda for the meeting includes presentations about hepatitis B disease and vaccine safety. On Friday, the discussion turns to ingredients and timing for vaccines on the childhood schedule. • About the board: The members of the board were handpicked by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, after he abruptly fired the 17 sitting members earlier this year. Universal vaccination against hepatitis B was first recommended for infants in 1991, and the strategy has been credited with cutting the number of hepatitis B infections in kids from about 18,000 cases a year to an estimated 20 cases a year now. The hepatitis B birth dose is given to infants within 24 hours of birth, before they leave the hospital. Anti-vaccine activists, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have long questioned the necessity and safety of this vaccine, despite decades of evidence supporting it. The virus spreads through bodily fluids — drug use and sex can increase risk. However, many people do not know they are infected. Everyday activities can also spread the virus, and it’s especially easy to transmit to babies during birth.
