Hepatitis B birth dose vaccines

WHO recommends that all infants, including low birth weight and premature infants, receive their first dose of hepatitis B vaccine as soon as possible after birth, ideally within 24 hours, since perinatal or early childhood transmission is the most important source of chronic hepatitis B virus infection globally. The risk of infection for infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers increases significantly when the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine was received seven or more days after birth compared with those vaccinated 1–3 days after birth. While efforts should be made to administer the birth dose within 24 hours of birth, a late birth dose can still be effective in preventing horizontal transmission starting in early childhood when the risk of chronic infection is the highest, and, therefore, remains beneficial. WHO recommends that all infants who miss vaccination within 24 hours of birth should receive a late birth dose during the first contact with health-care providers at any time up to the time of the next dose in the primary vaccination schedule.

Data are mostly derived from recent WHO and NITAG official publications, peer reviewed papers, other publicly available sources and institutional publications. Not all data are the result of a systematic review with an assessment of the certainty of evidence; in addition, the evidence does not cover every aspect of the respective indicator. Users are encouraged to review the data sources in detail and consider any additional data that may be available, including regional and local data.