U.S. infant bleeding episodes jump as vitamin K refusals rise, two studies find

CHICAGO, Nov 5 — Rates of life-threatening bleeding in U.S. infants have risen sharply since 2017 as parents increasingly refuse ​protective newborn doses of vitamin K, a trend that coincides with a growing wave of mistrust toward vaccines and other newborn interventions, two studies published on Thursday ‌found.

The studies are the first to show that bleeding rates in U.S. infants have increased along with rising refusals of vitamin K shots.

Babies are not born with enough vitamin K, an essential nutrient that helps blood clot, and vitamin K injections at birth have been standard for over 60 years. As a result, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not track rates of vitamin K refusals or bleeding.

Vitamin K refusals have been rising steadily ​since the covid-19 pandemic, but have accelerated under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who spent decades sowing mistrust about vaccines before taking the nation’s top health post. He has ​since dropped childhood recommendations for six vaccines. Changes to the childhood vaccination schedule are on hold over a legal challenge. Health experts say the mixed ⁠messages have raised doubts among many parents about routine newborn treatments, including vitamin K.

A Department of Health…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health