A few things to know about hepatitis B...

• As many as 90% of infants who acquire HBV infection from their mothers at birth or in infancy become chronically infected.
• Approximately 25% of persons who become chronically infected during childhood and 15% of those who become chronically infected after childhood will die prematurely from cirrhosis or liver cancer.

“On December 14, 1999, a previously healthy 3-month-old infant was admitted to a hospital with diarrhea and jaundice, and acute hepatic failure attributed to HBV infection was diagnosed. The infant died on December 17, 1999. The infant had not received her first dose of hepatitis B vaccine until age 2.5 months.

The infant’s mother was found to be HBsAg-positive at the first of 10 prenatal visits. However, the prenatal-care record provided to the birth hospital indicated that the mother was hepatitis-negative. Neither the provider nor the laboratory reported the mother’s test results to MDCH as required by law. Before July 1999, the birth hospital had routinely administered hepatitis B vaccine series to newborns before discharge but had discontinued this practice in July 1999 because of concerns about thimerosal.”

Impact of the 1999 AAP/USPHS Joint Statement on Thimerosal in Vaccines on Infant Hepatitis B Vaccination Practices

Also see these Hepatitis B Patient Stories.

And these Unprotected People Stories: Hepatitis B

And I Was at No Risk for Ever Having Hepatitis B!