Hilary's Desk

On November 16th, 2010, Vaccine published an article titled “Public vaccination programmes against hepatitis B in The Netherlands: Assessing whether a targeted or a universal approach is appropriate”. This long, convoluted self-justifying article gives an extensive review on the Hepatitis B situation in the Netherlands; what is known; what is not; and the statistical tinkering by the committee which recommended universal vaccination. This article should be compulsory reading for all thinking parents, psychology students, and epidemiologists world-wide.  Read Full Blog

Recently, I was contacted by a young woman about to complete her midwifery qualifications.  She had delivered a baby whose young mother was a hepatitis B carrier.  This young aspiring midwife had recently returned a negative blood test for Hepatitis B antibodies,  Immediately, concerns had been raised that she may have been exposed to surface antigen from the baby's skin. I started asking questions, like, "Well, was this young mother vaccinated?" and... "Was she just surface antigen positive, or was she core antigen positive and therefore actively infectious?" then... "What information were you given to prove that hepatitis B surface antigen is littered all over this baby's skin?" and..  "Were you vaccinated with the Hepatitis B vaccine?" Read Full Blog