When Su Wang was in medical school, she donated blood. That’s when she learned she was infected with hepatitis B, a virus that attacks the liver and can lead to cancer and death decades later. “I was 18, healthy, in college,” she said. “And suddenly I had a chronic illness I didn’t even know about.” Born in Florida in 1975, Wang grew up before the hepatitis B vaccine was routinely given to newborns. For years, she assumed she had been infected by her mother, only to discover later that both her parents were negative. “It turns out my grandparents, who cared for me after birth, probably passed it to me,” she said. “That’s how easy this virus spreads — not from some exotic risk factor, just family.” Today, Wang is the medical director for viral hepatitis programs at RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey. Her story now sits at the center of a historic turning point in public health. On Dec. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to end the universal U.S. recommendation for the newborn dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, instead adopting a policy urging individual-based decision-making. Under the new approach, only infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B will automatically receive a dose of the vaccine and hepatitis B antibodies shortly after birth. For everyone else, if the parents choose to vaccinate, the birth dose can be delayed until 2 months of age. All the committee members…
