A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
It's unusual for presidents to give out medical advice. But in a White House press briefing earlier this week, President Trump questioned the wisdom of vaccinating all newborns against hepatitis B.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: There's no reason to give a baby that's almost just born hepatitis B. So I would say wait till the baby is 12 years old.
MARTÍNEZ: Pediatricians say that's not only wrong, but also dangerous. Here's NPR's Maria Godoy.
MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: Hepatitis B is a virus that attacks the liver. The disease has no cure and can lead to liver cancer, cirrhosis and death. And the risks of these outcomes is much higher for people who get infected as infants. Here's Dr. Andrew Pavia, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with the University of Utah.
ANDREW PAVIA: About 25% of children who develop chronic hepatitis B will die of their infection.
GODOY: Before the U.S. began universally vaccinating newborns in 1991, some 18,000 children each year became infected before the age of 10. About half were infected by their mothers at birth. The other half got it from somewhere else. President Trump said hepatitis B is sexually transmitted, so there's no reason to give the vaccine to a baby. But Pavia says the risks for kids are everywhere.
PAVIA: There have been cases of infections in day care. There have been cases of infection on sports teams. There have been documented infections from shared toothbrushes and from shared razors.
GODOY: The virus is found in blood, saliva, even tears, and it can live on surfaces for up to seven days. A child with a wound who comes into contact with that surface even days later could become infected. Dr. Anita Patel is a pediatrician in Washington, D.C. She says many people don't know they have the virus, but they can still pass it on unwittingly.
ANITA PATEL: If you have a cut, that blood could potentially get on the infant. And if that infant has any sort of break in their skin, as infants frequently do, they can then get hepatitis B.
GODOY: She says that's why it's so important to give the shot at birth. Since that became routine in the U.S., case rates have plummeted by 99% among people age 19 and younger.
Maria Godoy, NPR News.
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