Health providers in Maine are condemning a federal decision dropping the recommendation that babies receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.
The U.S. CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says parents should consult with their doctors about the hepatitis B vaccine, and those who want to delay should wait until babies are at least two months old.
Dr. Laura Blaisdell of the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics says the change is not grounded in science and sows doubt on a proven vaccine.
"That's the danger," Blaisdell says. "Is that, if we don't give it during this period of time shortly after birth, we're missing the critical life-saving nature of the vaccine."
Since the universal vaccine recommendation was issued in the U.S. more than three decades ago, hepatitis B infection rates have dropped by 99%. The disease can be spread through microscopic amounts of body fluids and can lead to liver cancer.
The Maine CDC says it continues to recommend that babies receive the three-dose vaccine series starting at birth.
