Curious about eye ointment for your babe?! Erythromycin eye ointment is a med that is standardly given to newborns after birth in the US. The practice started in the late 1800s, when about 10% of babies in Europe developed opthalmia neonatorum (ON) - also called conjunctivitis or pink eye. Of that 10%, about 3% ended up blind. When physicians realized that gonorrhea was causing the ON, they discovered they could treat all newborn eyes with silver nitrate to prevent ON… Fast forward 130 years: -

Meet your new Surgeon General… Casey Means 🚨 Why are Newborns Given Erythromycin and Hepatitis B Shots? • Within hours or when a child is born, a child is subjected to pharmaceutical intervention —— a new newborns eyes are smeared with Erythromycin Ointment —— a newborn is given the Hepatitis B shot • Erythromycin Ointment is to prevent gonorrhea or chlamydia infections of the eyes. —— why would a newborn need this if the mother does not have these STD’s? • Hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted