NR 602 Case # 1 Newborn

Case # 1 Newborn A term newborn born at 3.5kg, and all maternal labs are negative should receive the Hepatitis B vaccine within the first 24 hours (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). It is important to vaccinate babies at birth to protect them as early as possible from any exposure to the hepatitis B virus. Newborn and young children are not able to fight off hepatitis B virus infection due to the immature of their immune system. Most infants who get the Hep B series are protected from hepatitis B infection beyond childhood, into their adult years. Eliminating the risk of infection also decreases risk for cirrhosis of the liver, chronic liver disease, and liver cancer in the future (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). In case that the term newborn’s mother tested positive for Hepatitis B the newborn must receive the first dose of HBV vaccine as well as the HBIG within the first 12 hours. The second dose of Hepatitis B vaccine should be given at 1 month of age, and the final dose by 6 months of age. HBIG efficacy decreases markedly if treatment is delayed beyond 48 hours. HBV motherto-infant transmission can be blocked by up to 90% if a newborn was injected with HBIG after birth and at the same time with hepatitis B vaccine (Gong & Liu, 2018). In case that the newborns are born to mothers whose HBsAg status is unknown they must receive the hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of birth. In this case it is important to the drawn the mother’s blood as soon as possible to be able to determine the mother HBsAg status. At the same time, it is important to administer HBIG by 7 days of age or by hospital discharge (whichever occurs first) if the mother HBsAg status is confirmed positive or remains unknown (The American Academy of Pediatrics, 2017)