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

Data to assess the benefits and risks of hepatitis B vaccine for the general 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 population of American children. We calculated the risk of liver problems among hepatitis B vaccinated and non-hepatitis B vaccinated children using logistic regression. 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 non-hepatitis B vaccinated children in the 1993 National Health Interview Survey. 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-hepatitis B vaccinated children in the 1994 National Health Interview Survey dataset.