Ask the Experts: Why Universal Adult HepB Vaccination Now?

Welcome to Immunize.org’s Ask the Experts resources. This Ask the Experts question is presented by Immunize.org’s Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH.
Question: Why should healthcare professionals focus on vaccinating adults against hepatitis B now?
Answer: Anyone can be infected with hepatitis B. Everyone can benefit from knowing their status and being protected. The majority of adults reported to CDC in recent years with acute hepatitis B have no reported risk factor for infection. Risk factors for exposure are so numerous and diverse that most adults, even those who don’t think of themselves as at risk, may find themselves at risk at some point in their lives.
Infants and children have been routinely vaccinated since the 1990s. As a result, we see very little hepatitis B in the routinely vaccinated age groups; however, rates have been steady or rising in unvaccinated older adults. CDC recommends extending this vaccine protection to all adults in a catch-up vaccination program. This is a crucial step toward the goal of eliminating hepatitis B and the liver disease and cancer it causes.
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Immunize.org established Ask the Experts to provide practical answers to clinical questions about vaccines and vaccine administration. Our Immunize.org experts have answered more than 1,200 clinical questions like this one based on ACIP recommendations. You can find all of these questions and answers on our "Ask the Experts" page at www.immunize.org/askexperts.
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Immunize.org supports healthcare professionals with educational resources and advocates to remove barriers to vaccination for all. We create and distribute educational materials for healthcare professionals and the public that enhance the delivery of safe and effective immunization services. We work to improve national and state vaccine policy. Immunize.org also facilitates communication about the safety, efficacy, and use of vaccines within the broad immunization community of patients, parents, healthcare organizations, and government health agencies.
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