Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (Jan 2020)

Hepatitis B vaccine birth dose in India: time to reconsider

  • Pragyan Paramita Parija,
  • Mohan Kumar M

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2019.1640557
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 1
pp. 158 – 160

Abstract

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Viral hepatitis is increasingly being recognized as a public health problem in India with 96% of all hepatitis mortality attributed to hepatitis B and C combined. It has been recognized that hepatitis B vaccination has resulted in substantial reductions in the incidence of acute and chronic hepatitis B infections and carriage. Although coverage of third-dose hepatitis B vaccine has reached 86%, the birth-dose coverage was only 45% in 2015 despite high rates of institutional deliveries (79%). With the target set at 90% coverage of birth-dose hepatitis B vaccine by 2030, it is imperative to immediately incorporate WHO/SAGE recommendations of administering the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose until 7 d into the National Immunization Schedule (NIS).

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