0:00Couple new parents asked me about the hep B vaccine.
0:03Why do we give it at birth?
0:05And I said, there's one thing you're not allowed to say.
0:07I'm sorry to bother you, doctor.
0:09No, ask away. That's why we're here.
0:11There's science and there's a bunch of noise.
0:13So here are five things I tell every parent about the hep B vaccine and why we give it at birth.
0:18Number one, hepatitis B is extremely contagious.
0:22Up to 100 times more contagious than HIV.
0:25A cut, a scratch, casual contact with someone who may not even know they have it can spread an infection.
0:31Number two, babies can't really fight the virus off.
0:35If a newborn gets hepatitis B, there's up to a 90% chance that that child will develop a chronic lifelong infection.
0:42Number three, the vaccine has been given safely for decades.
0:46That's millions of newborns, decades of data since adding a birth dose.
0:51Cases of childhood hepatitis B in the United States have dropped by over 90%.
0:56This is one of the biggest silent wins in pediatrics.
1:00Number four, delaying to give the vaccine can cause some serious problems.
1:05Before we gave a birth dose, we missed a lot of cases.
1:09Babies who were exposed by relatives or friends.
1:11Delaying the shot meant preventable infections and potentially lifelong liver disease.
1:17And number five, side effects are almost always mild.
