More than half of children under 5 exposed to hep B exposed via household contact
· Medical Xpressby Elana Gotkine
edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew Zinin
Sadie Harley
Scientific Editor
Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process
Andrew Zinin
Chief Editor
Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process Editors' notes
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
fact-checked
reputable news agency
proofread
The GIST Add to Preferred Sources
More than half of children younger than 5 years exposed to hepatitis B virus (HBV) are exposed by someone in their household other than their birth mother, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDWeek), held from Oct. 21 to 24 in Washington, D.C.
Karen Jacobson, M.D., M.P.H., from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Pleasanton, California, and colleagues examined the HBV status of household contacts of young children in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) in a retrospective cohort study including KPNC members aged younger than 5 years on June 16, 2023. A total of 158,169 children younger than 5 years living in 131,800 households with at least one additional KPNC member were identified.
Of the households, 1,689 included a person with active HBV; 2,024 children (1.3%) lived in a household with a person with active HBV. The researchers found that 41.8% and 58.2% of the 2,024 exposed children were birth-exposed and household-exposed, respectively.
Compared with HBV-positive mothers, nonmaternal HBV-positive household contacts were older (44 versus 38 years); 76.5% were male. All birth-exposed children received HBV vaccination within seven days of birth compared with 93.5% and 86.7% of household-exposed and unexposed children, respectively.
"A child can be exposed to hepatitis B from anyone with an active infection, not just their mother," Jacobson said in a statement. "No one knows the status of everyone a child may come into contact with, and vaccinating infants at birth protects against known and unknown potential sources of transmission. The hepatitis B vaccine is a safe and effective way to protect against HBV infection."
More information
Key medical concepts
Clinical categories
Infectious diseasesChildren's healthPediatricsCommon illnesses & PreventionPreventive medicine Who's behind this story?
Sadie Harley
BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →
Andrew Zinin
Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →
Copyright © 2026 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Citation: More than half of children under 5 exposed to hep B exposed via household contact (2026, October 27) retrieved 27 October 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-children-exposed-hep-household-contact.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.