Question
Patient Age: 20 days old. The baby was born on April 22 and received the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine on April 23. The second dose was originally scheduled for May 23. However, the community hospital requires that the baby have a 42-day check-up before receiving the second dose, and vaccinations are only offered every Wednesday. This means the second dose will be delayed to the baby’s 48th day, which is June 9. I am concerned that this may have an adverse effect on the baby. Additionally, the third dose was planned for October 23, but that day is a Saturday. Should it be administered on the 20th instead, or postponed to the 27th?
Answer
The timing of hepatitis B vaccination should be followed as closely as possible to the ideal schedule to help antibodies form in the baby’s body. If it’s not possible to adhere to the standard timing completely, although the effectiveness may be slightly reduced, a check-up for hepatitis B surface antibody titers should be conducted after all three doses are administered. If the antibody titer is low, consider administering an additional hepatitis B vaccine. Therefore, there is no need to worry excessively.