Donald Trump claimed there’s “no reason” to vaccinate a baby against hepatitis B, a highly contagious disease that can spread from casual contact and some sports.

Before the United States began vaccinating all infants at birth with the hepatitis B vaccine in 1991, around 18,000 children every year contracted the virus before their 10th birthday—about half of them at birth.

On top of this Trump also made the claim that hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease, which has caused more bewilderment. During the conference, the Republican leader suggested there's no need for a hepatitis B vaccine for babies and children should instead get it when they are much older.

Medical experts say vaccination is the best prevention method for hepatitis B, a liver infection that can be acute or chronic. The disease has no cure and can cause a variety of complications.

Hepatitis B is a liver infection that inflames the organ and impacts its ability to function. It can be either acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term), and is estimated to impact between 880,000 and 1.89 million people in the United States. Those who ...

An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has postponed a vote on a proposed change to the hepatitis B vaccination schedule for infants, which would have delayed the first dose from within 24 hours of birth to a later point in infancy or childhood,

A July 27 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) attributes a quote about the hepatitis B vaccine to someone identified only as "Dr. Ryan." "Hep B vaccine was created for hookers & drug users, but when none of them would show up for their shots ...