His mother, Kelly Stout, was not thrilled that her son was getting a shot so soon, but she knew that his father had hepatitis as a boy and she wanted her baby protected.
"I thought it would be best to get it, don't you?" she said from her hospital bed.
Hepatitis B, a virus, spreads similarly to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, but it is far more contagious than AIDS, is a greater threat to health-care workers and is the leading cause of liver disease in the world. But it has not inspired the same kind of fear or public awareness that AIDS has - perhaps because it is not invariably fatal.
"Everyone is aware that the odds are greater that you'll get hepatitis B exposure than HIV (the AIDS virus)," said Tim Campbell, director of emergency services for Chester County. "The problem is there's this tremendous emotional atmosphere to AIDS-HIV that doesn't seem to be there for hepatitis B."
Even so, the American Academy of Pediatrics early this year recommended that the hepatitis B vaccine be given to babies. Some hospitals, including Lower Bucks and Abington Memorial, have made it a policy to give the shots to newborns. Others, such as Brandywine and Montgomery Hospitals, leave the decision to pediatricians.
The national Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is recommending the vaccine for adolescents. And the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is recommending that pregnant women be tested for the disease.
As of this month, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is requiring that all workers who come in contact with blood be offered the costly vaccine, at their employers' expense.
