It is important to vaccinate your child against Hepatitis B Virus. Most people know that this virus may be transmitted in blood products (e.g. blood transfusion with contaminated blood, or sharing needles for drug injections), and from unprotected sex. However, the commonest reason worldwide for people to become infected is during birth from their mother who herself is infected.

For this reason, all pregnant women are screened to see if they are a "carrier" of Hepatitis B Virus. Carriers, have had a past infection with Hepatitis B and may feel well, but still carry the virus and can transmit it to their newborn baby during birth.

The most effective way of reducing the worldwide incidence of Hepatitis B is for the most people possible to get vaccinated against it. The best time for this vaccination is starting in the newborn period. The first vaccination should occur before the baby leaves the hospital, shortly after birth. This ensures that even a small risk of infection is prevented. This is the current recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

If you are a carrier of Hepatitis B, your infant will receive the vaccine in the first day and also will receive an additional shot of "Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin". The immunoglobulin acts immediately against the virus while the vaccine is prompting the baby's own immune system to fight it. The immunoglobulin injection is therefore very important to ensure that your newborn baby does not get infected from you if you are carrying the Hepatitis B virus.