The health authorities in Cape Verde have now included Hepatitis-B among diseases for which babies are vaccinated. The hepatitis vaccinations started on 1 January and target infants under the age of one year, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported.
The introduction of the hepatitis vaccine is being funded by a grant of US $207,000 provided to Cape Verde through UNICEF by the Italian government, a UNICEF source told IRIN on Thursday. The grant covers the period 2001-2004, the source said. Under the programme, children received the first of three doses within seven days of their birth. Follow-up vaccinations are administered one month and six months later.
The Hepatitis-B virus is spread when blood or other body fluid from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not immune. An infected mother can transmit the virus to her baby during birth.
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