St. Luke’s Health Recognized for Protecting Infants against Hepatitis B

St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin is one of ten hospitals to be accepted into the Immunization Action Coalition’s (IAC) Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll this year.

The Honor Roll now includes 262 birthing institutions across the nation and in Puerto Rico that are recognized for attaining high coverage rates for administering hepatitis B vaccine at birth and meeting specific additional criteria. St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin has a reported hepatitis B birth dose coverage rate at 97%.

“We want every child to leave our nursery with the protection they need against Hepatitis B,” said Henderson Women’s and Children’s Center Director Misti Lowe, RNC-OB, BSN. “We are proud to be recognized along with an elite group of birthing institutions for protecting America’s smallest citizens.”

An infant can acquire the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) from an infected mother (transmitted at birth) or a chronically infected member of his/her household.

The Honor Roll is a key part of IAC’s major initiative urging the nation’s hospitals to “Give birth to the end of Hep B.” To be included, a birthing institution must have

• reported a coverage rate of 90 percent or greater, over a 12-month period, for administering hepatitis B vaccine before hospital discharge to all newborns, including those whose parents refuse vaccination, and
• implemented specific written policies, procedures, and protocols to protect all newborns from hepatitis B virus infection prior to hospital discharge.