UK doctors call for hepatitis B jabs for children
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Doctors called on Tuesday for all British children to be vaccinated against the Hepatitis B virus that can cause serious liver disease.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said transmission of the virus has more than doubled in the past decade.
“It makes sense to immunise all children against Hepatitis B.
The vaccine is extremely safe and millions of babies around the world have been immunised and protected against a major cause of cancer,” Dr Sam Everington, deputy chairman of the BMA, said in a statement.
The professional organisation first called for vaccination against hepatitis B in 1995. Most developed countries routinely immunise babies against the virus. The World Health Organisation has also recommended vaccination against hepatitis B.
But Britain has no universal vaccination programme because rates of Hepatitis B infection are very low and stable.
“Expert advice has been that we should seek to improve immunisation of groups most at risk of infection, such as babies born to mothers with hepatitis B, injecting drug users and gay and bisexual men, and this is what we have been doing,” the Department of Health said in a statement.
It added that the programme is being reviewed but no conclusion have been reached yet.
The virus, which attacks the liver, can cause lifelong infection, scarring of the liver, cancer and death. The virus is transmitted through contaminated blood or body fluids.
It can be transmitted through sex, an open wound, saliva and through sharing toothbrushes and razors. An infected mother can also pass on the virus to her child during birth.
There are about 350 million carriers of the virus worldwide. Globally, about two people die every minute from the infection, according to the BMA.
A vaccine has been available since 1982.
“Hepatitis B-related illness costs the NHS millions of pounds every year and causes untold suffering to patients. An immunisation programme will not only save lives but be more cost-effective than treating liver disease and cancer caused by hepatitis B,” said Everington.
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