Unexplained fever in neonates may be associated with hepatitis B vaccine.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether hepatitis B vaccination has increased the number of cases of unexplained neonatal fever.


METHODS
The files of all infants born from 1 January 1991 to 31 December 1992, in whom a diagnosis of "injected antibiotic" or "disease of temperature regulation" was recorded, were reviewed. Those who had unexplained fever of 38 degrees C or higher during the first three days of life were divided into two groups: infants who did not receive the hepatitis B vaccine (1991) and infants who did (1992).


RESULTS
In 1992 the incidence of unexplained fever in hepatitis B vaccinated neonates was significantly higher than in the 1991 group of pre-vaccination neonates (35 out of 5819 (0.6%) vs 14 out of 5010 neonates (0.28%) respectively, p=0.013).


CONCLUSIONS
The increase in the number of cases of unexplained neonatal fever seems to be associated with the introduction of routine hepatitis B vaccination on the first day of life. The possibility that an excess number of neonates will undergo unnecessary procedures and treatment to diagnose unexplained fever justifies planning a controlled study to determine whether these preliminary findings point to a significant problem.
Linder
N
N
Department of Neonatology, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, 14 Kaplan St, Petah Tikva 49202, Israel.
Raz
M
M
Sirota
L
L
Reichman
B
B
Lubin
D
D
Kuint
J
J
Cohen
A H
AH
Barzilai
A
A
D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000209:etiology*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn
D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines