The number of children affected by the fatal hepatitis B has doubled in last ten years. Therefore all children should be vaccinated against deadly condition in order to cut back the rates of infection. It is believed that the gigantic rise to be stimulated by increasing the levels of unprotected sex and immigration from countries where the illness is widespread.
The virus is thought to be spread through blood and other bodily fluids including from mother to baby. The virus is one hundred times more infectious than HIV. Hepatitis B infects the liver. It is spread mostly by sharing needles to inject drugs, unprotected sex and from infected mother to baby.
About a quarter of contaminated people who are untreated for the duration of six months will die of liver disease. Many people do not even realize that they are infected because the symptoms of the condition are analogous to flue. Several sufferers do not feel unwell by any means.
The symptoms of the condition may include fever, headache, loss appetite, nausea, stomach pain and jaundice. The officials are considering offering the vaccine to all children all at once as vaccines for other ailments such as polio, whooping cough and tetanus are given. About three million Britons are thought to be infected with hepatitis B.
At present only groups those at risk are offered the vaccine such as gay, prostitutes, women, men with multiple partners. The Who points out that Britain lags ears behind most other Western countries counting US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Greece by declining to vaccinate all babies.
The vaccine could be added to the five-in-one jab, currently given to babies at two to four months to protect against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio and Hib – haemophilus influenza B, as a single jab. It could also be given to babies as a separate jab at some point prior to their first birthday.
According to Dr George Kassianos, immunization spokesman for the Royal College of GPs, It is the only way to control the increase of hepatitis B in this country. Migration has changed the hepatitis B epidemiology in whole of Europe. They need to do something about it while it is possible to control the disease by vaccination.
The JCVI keeps its suggestion under review and will continue to consider if a hepatitis B-containing vaccine should be introduced into the routine childhood immunization schedule in the future, explained A Department of Health spokesman.