If you've been getting a lot more questions about hepatitis B and vaccination from your patients and families and wondering where to find the answers, look no further than our episode today filled with useful information from evidence based sources.

This episode was written by pediatricians Tammy Yau and Lidia Park with content support from Dean Blumberg (pediatric infectious disease). Pediatricians Tammy and Lidia take full responsibility for any errors or misinformation.

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Key Points:

• As of the time of this podcast publishing, the American Academy of Pediatrics still recommends Hepatitis B vaccination at birth, 1-2 months, and 6-18 months.
• Hepatitis B vaccination introduction decreased the lifetime prevalence of hepatitis B from 33% to 5% between 1988-2004.
• 4 in every 1000 people with hepatitis B will go on to develop chronic hepatitis B which can lead to liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma.
• Hepatitis B has an average incubation of 90 days meaning you might not have symptoms for the first few months of infection. 20-30% of people with hepatitis B do not have a clear source of infection which is why prevention is crucial

Sources:

• “Hepatitis B in Children”. Pediatr Rev (2008) 29 (4): 111–120.
• https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.29-4-111
• “Hepatitis B” Red Book chapter
• https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/immunizations/vaccination-recommendations-by-
• the-aap/