Hepatitis B vaccine and liver problems in US children less than 6 years old, 1993 and 1994

Data to assess the benefits and risks of hepatitis B vaccine for the genera l population of U.S. children are sparse. This study addressed the problem of external validity found in previous studies of high risk populations by evaluating the benefit of hepatitis B vaccination for the general populatio n of American children. We calculated the risk of liver problems among hepa titis B vaccinated and non-hepatitis B vaccinated children using logistic r egression. Hepatitis B vaccinated children had an unadjusted odds ratio of 2.94 and age-adjusted odds ratio of 2.35 for liver problems compared with n on-hepatitis B vaccinated children in the 1993 National Health Interview Su rvey. Hepatitis B vaccinated children had an unadjusted odds ratio of 2.57 and age-adjusted odds ratio of 1.53 for liver problems compared with non-he patitis B vaccinated children in the 1994 National Health Interview Survey dataset.