Vitamin K shot refusal rate rose to 5.2 percent of U.S. newborns in 2024

A study of electronic medical records found that 5.2 percent of U.S. newborns did not receive the vitamin K injection in 2024, up from 2.9 percent in 2017. The injection prevents vitamin K deficiency bleeding, a condition that can cause internal hemorrhages in the first weeks or months of life.

Infants are naturally low in the vitamin because it does not cross the placenta efficiently and breast milk contains little of it.

Cases reported by physicians More than 15 physicians told The New York Times they had treated infants with brain or abdominal bleeding linked to the absence of the shot, mostly in the past five years. At least 12 of those infants died and at least 14 others sustained brain damage.

Dr. Meghan Martin, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, said her team now sees a hemorrhaging infant every month or two on average.

Background on the injection The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended the shot in 1961. One dose given within six hours of birth nearly eliminates the risk of deficiency bleeding. Some parents decline the injection over concerns about a preservative or a possible link to leukemia, though larger studies have not confirmed those risks.

Preservative-free versions are available. On June 29, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Rep. Kim Schrier of Washington wrote to the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging national tracking of vitamin K refusal and related bleeding cases.

A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson did not indicate whether the agency would implement tracking.