UK Population at Risk of Hepatitis B Infection

An infectious diseases expert warns in this week’s BMJ that the failure of the UK to introduce universal hepatitis B immunization means that most UK citizens are susceptible to infection.

Despite a call by the World Health Organization for the global introduction of vaccine prevention programms, the UK is one of the few developed countries that still does not routinely immunize children against hepatitis B. Up to 40% of infections are transmitted from mother to child during birth, or in early childhood through contact with blood or body fluids.