Dr. Peyton Thompson: Hepatitis B vaccine

ANCHOR
PRESIDENT TRUMP RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THERE’S NO REASON TO VACCINATE BABIES AGAINST HEPATITIS B.
DOCTORS DISAGREE.

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HEPATITIS B IS A VIRUS THAT ATTACKS THE LIVER… AND THERE’S NO CURE.
IT CAN LEAD TO LIVER DAMAGE… CANCER… EVEN DEATH.
AT A SEPTEMBER NEWS CONFERENCE… PRESIDENT TRUMP CALLED IT A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED VIRUS.
DOCTOR PEYTON THOMPSON… AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL… SAYS THAT’S NOT THE ONLY WAY IT SPREADS.
SHE SAYS THE VIRUS CAN PASS FROM MOTHER TO BABY AT BIRTH… OR THROUGH EVERYDAY ITEMS LIKE RAZOR BLADES AND NAIL CLIPPERS.
AND SHE SAYS BABIES WHO GET INFECTED EARLY… ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO FACE SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES LATER IN LIFE.

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Duration: 0:42
Super: Dr. Peyton Thompson – Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“It’s incredible to me that we are able, with a single dose of vaccine even, to prevent babies from being infected with this horrible virus, from living with liver infection, liver complications, that go unnoticed until much further on in life, this silent infection that is Hep B. And that ultimately we can prevent them from dying from a preventable liver disease.”

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DOCTOR THOMPSON SAYS THE U-S REPORTED AROUND 20-THOUSAND HEPATITIS B CASES EACH YEAR BEFORE ROUTINELY VACCINATING BABIES FOR THE VIRUS.
NOW… THAT NUMBER IS CLOSER TO TWO-THOUSAND.
DOCTOR THOMPSON URGES PARENTS WITH QUESTIONS TO TALK WITH THEIR CHILD’S PEDIATRICIAN.