Many HBV-exposed babies are unprotected

And, semaglutide use in pregnancy not cause for alarm.

Health Rounds Health Rounds By Nancy Lapid, Health Science Editor Hello Health Rounds readers! Today we shine a light on a study that suggests just how misguided and potentially dangerous new US hepatitis B vaccination guidelines may be for many infants. We also report on an analysis that should ease some concerns for pregnant women taking popular GLP-1 drugs. Among our breaking news stories: US to tighten Ebola screening with new air passenger declarations; Florida attorney general proposes limits on social media, AI for teens; Supreme Court won't allow Trump administration restrictions on transgender inmates; Kennedy says Trump administration aims for regulated market for peptides; beauty giants target 'Ozempic face' as boom in obesity drugs opens new market; and UNICEF and Gavi agree to cut malaria vaccine price by 40%. Also: First human case of livestock virus Shamonda unlikely to lead to wider spread (and, what is Shamonda virus and what are the risks to humans and animals?); late detection in Nigeria raises alarm as Ebola spreads across Africa; New Zealand court strikes down puberty blocker ban; and cheap Chinese antibiotics threaten Europe's last major penicillin plant. Industry Updates Gilead to buy PepStar's inflammation drug program. Moderna cancer vaccine data triggers 'sell-the-news' retreat. Merck/Moderna cancer vaccine cuts melanoma death or recurrence risk by 42%. AbbVie skin disease drug reduces lesions in trial. Quest reports cyber breach affecting patient records. Roche beats revenue estimates, but copycats eat into Xolair sales. FDA approves AstraZeneca drug for rare kidney disease in adults and GSK hepatitis B drug that offers patients chance to stop long-term treatment. Danaher says it has 'building blocks' for AI drug discovery growth. Cencora to buy American Oncology Network in $2.4 billion deal Abbott cuts 2026 view, plans to spin off nutrition business. Intuitive tightens 2026 robotic-surgery procedure growth forecast.   Can Texas high school football handle the heat? REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare High school football is a revered US tradition but it is under sharp pressure as the world suffers from intensifying heat waves, the consequences of which can be fatal. In Texas, heat storms are transforming what football looks like. Read more here. Study Rounds HBV vaccine guidelines leave exposed infants unprotected   A new study hints at the extent to which basing hepatitis B virus vaccination recommendations for infants only on their mother's infection status leaves them vulnerable to the virus from other close contacts. For decades, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all infants be vaccinated at birth against HBV. In a controversial new guideline, part of the vaccine overhaul agenda of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the agency now recommends that only children of mothers with HBV infections or unknown HBV status be vaccinated at birth. “A child can be exposed to hepatitis B from anyone with an active infection, not just their mother,” study leader Dr. Karen Jacobson of Kaiser Permanente said in a statement. In the new study of 158,000 children in northern California, researchers identified more than 2,000 whose household included at least one person with active hepatitis B. In roughly 58% of those, the infected household member was not the child's mother, the researchers reported at the IDWeek meeting in Washington, a large annual gathering of infectious diseases specialists. HBV, the leading cause of liver cancer worldwide, can be transmitted through contact with body fluids including blood, tears and saliva, and it can live on surfaces for up to a week. The infection often resolves on its own. But it becomes chronic in more than 90% of infants and in up to 50% of young children who become infected. “No one knows the status of everyone a child may come into contact with, and vaccinating infants at birth protects against known and unknown potential sources of transmission,” Jacobson said. Read more about HBV vaccination on Reuters.com Explainer: Why are hepatitis B vaccines given to newborns? Inside RFK Jr.’s push to dismantle decades of US vaccine policy Semaglutide use in pregnancy may not be cause for alarm Women taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and diabetes are advised to stop before becoming pregnant, but new data adds to an earlier report suggesting use in pregnancy might not be a cause for alarm. In June, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health had reported on 3,572 pregnancies in women who were taking GLP-1 drugs prior to conception. The risk for non-live birth was 29.7% with medication continuation into the first trimester, versus 27.1% with non-continuation, a difference that was not deemed statistically significant. In a smaller new study that has not yet undergone peer review, researchers at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based data analytics firm nference analyzed outcomes of 572 pregnancies in women with a prescription for semaglutide within 90 days before the last menstrual period. Of those, 246 of the women continued to use the drug while pregnant. Semaglutide is sold by Eli Lilly in the US as Wegovy for obesity and Zepbound for diabetes. The researchers also analyzed 101,159 similar pregnancies without GLP-1 use. Similar percentages of pregnancies reached the second trimester, third trimester, and delivery, they found. Most patients who continued semaglutide use into pregnancy discontinued it after the first trimester. But the drug was prescribed to 54 women in the second trimester and 45 in the third trimester. Pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes, and rates of preterm birth, stillbirth or neonatal death did not differ between those who continued using the drug and those who stopped taking it. Mean Apgar scores — a quick health evaluation test performed on a newborn — were also indistinguishable between the semaglutide-continued and the semaglutide-discontinued groups. Women in the study who continued to use semaglutide had pregnancy-appropriate weight gains, the study also found. “These observations motivate the need for larger retrospective and prospective studies to rigorously establish the safety of semaglutide exposure during pregnancies,” the researchers concluded. In case you missed it... Health Rounds: Researchers find a possible trigger of some preterm births Glucose monitoring devices for type 2 diabetes benefit even those not on insulin This newsletter was edited by Bill Berkrot.   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Reuters Health Rounds is sent twice a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036