CDC finds cluster of newborns in Tennessee with bleeding disorder

10 years 4 months ago

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified a cluster of newborns in Tennessee with late vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB). VKDB is a serious, but preventable bleeding disorder that can cause bleeding in the brain. In each case, the newborn’s parents declined vitamin K injection at birth, mainly because they were unaware of the health benefits of vitamin K at birth.  Preliminary findings of CDC’s investigation, in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Health, were published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Between February and September, 2013, four cases of late VKDB were diagnosed at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Three of the infants had bleeding within the brain and the fourth had gastrointestinal bleeding. None of the infants received a vitamin K injection at birth. Read more