More babies across the US are facing life-threatening bleeding as parents refuse simple shot, report says

More babies are suffering life-threatening bleeding across the U.S. as parents skip a basic injection for their newborns with vaccine skepticism rampant in today’s world, and doctors are sounding the alarm about the rising trend.

Medical experts say the decline in standard vitamin K injections for newborns is leading to preventable deaths and severe brain injuries. Data from a national study of more than 5 million births, published in the journal JAMA, found that the rate of infants not receiving the shot at birth reached 5% in 2024. This represents a 77% increase since 2017.

In some hospital systems, such as St. Luke’s Health System in Idaho, refusal rates have more than doubled since the start of the pandemic, with one facility reporting that 20% of families opted out of the procedure.

Medical records and autopsy reports reviewed by ProPublica show a recent string of infant deaths across several states, including Maryland, Alabama, Texas and Kentucky. Pathologists attributed these deaths to vitamin K deficiency bleeding, a condition where the blood cannot clot, causing internal haemorrhaging.

Research shows that infants who do not receive the shot are 81 times more likely to develop late-onset bleeding than those who do. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five babies who develop the condition will die.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 6 May 2026