Hepatitis B is a serious, incurable infection that can lead to liver damage and liver cancer. It can be passed from mother to child during delivery, and without vaccination, about 90 percent of infants infected at birth develop chronic hepatitis B infection. For those whose hepatitis B status is negative, the panel recommended “individual-based decision-making”—meaning parents should talk with their doctors about vaccination first. “The United States went through several iterations of recommendations for vaccinating against hepatitis B that were all risk-based. We tried screening mothers, we tried only vaccinating babies born to mothers living with hepatitis B, and they all failed.