A large multi-centre study done in North India shows that many newborns are protected at birth by natural antibodies to Hepatitis-B and so Hep-B vaccination at birth is not necessary.
While India started vaccination for babies at birth against Hepatitis B in 2011, a study funded by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found that it is futile to carry out such vaccination.
A large multi-centre study done in North India shows that many newborns are protected at birth by natural antibodies to Hepatitis-B and so Hep-B vaccination at birth is not necessary.
The ICMR had launched this study to look at hepatitis-B infection rates in children vaccinated at birth compared to those vaccinated starting at six weeks. The study involved 2671 children from participating centres in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat of whom 880 were fully immunised starting at birth and 686 were fully immunised but without the birth dose. The study found that infection rate was similar even in those babies not given the birth dose.
The findings have been published in the Indian Journal of Paediatrics, was done to look at whether Hepatitis-B vaccination at birth was crucial for India.
“We found birth dose was not needed as infection rates were the same regardless of birth dose,” says Jacob Puliyel the study’s primary author and a paediatrician at St. Stephens Hospital in Delhi.
Hepatitis-B virus (HBV) can cause chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and lead to hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC) in susceptible persons.
Most babies are naturally immune to Hepatitis-B infection due to passive transfer of antibodies from the mother, says the study.
The researchers also found high protective antibodies in children before vaccination indicating that missing the birth dose does not cause much problem. “These natural antibodies may also be the reason why the hepatocellular cancer (HCC) rate in India is very low,” says Puliyel who is also a member of the government’s technical advisory board on immunisation.
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