Government health experts are considering whether to add the vaccine to a jab given to children at eight weeks.
The option, to be discussed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in June, would create a six-in-one vaccine that would also immunise against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib disease – a form of pneumonia.
It comes in response to rising levels in Britain of Hepatitis B, a blood infection that can lead to liver cancer.
Campaign groups said the move would worry parents already concerned that children are given too many vaccines, many of which have been linked to potentially harmful side-effects.
Children are already given 32 vaccines before they even reach school age, spread across 11 jabs including the MMR against measles, mumps and rubella once claimed to be linked to the onset of autism. The addition of the Hepatitis B immunisation to the first jab would bring the total of vaccines to 33.
A Harvard study found those vaccinated against Hepatitis B are at increased risk of multiple sclerosis, although it did not determine whether the jab caused the disease or speeded up the onset in those already destined to have it.
Jonathan Harris, of campaign group Jabs, said: "The vaccine has been linked to multiple sclerosis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and parents will understandably question the need to add it to what is an already crowded schedule of jabs. There will be a great deal of public concern about this and, as usual, very little consultation."
Estimates suggest the number infected by Hepatitis B in Britain almost doubled between 2002 and 2007, to 326,000. More than half of those cases were immigrants from Africa, Asia, Russia and the new EU nations.
The British Medical Association and the charity Hepatitis Foundation UK have previously called for all babies to be immunised against Hepatitis B, bringing the UK in line with World Health Organisation policy.
Andrew Wilson, a trustee of Hepatitis Foundation UK, said: "The trouble is hepatitis B is known as a silent killer because there are often no symptoms until real damage has been done. Parents' concerns are understandable but a child vaccinated at a young age will always be protected."
The virus can be spread by only a tiny amount of blood through cuts and grazes, but is most commonly transmitted by unprotected sex and needle sharing among drug addicts.
Andrew Thomson, of the BMA's Board of Science, said Hepatitis B infection rates were spiralling and that treating the infection was costing the NHS millions of pounds.
High risk areas for the disease include South Asia, Africa and parts of Eastern Europe. Many migrants from these areas settle in Britain. The condition can kill five per cent of those who contract it.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "The safety of children is always paramount whenever decisions are taken regarding what vaccines are included as part of the child vaccination programme.
"We do target hepatitis B immunisation at groups at increased risk of infection such as babies born to infected mothers, injecting drug users, those at risk of sexual exposure, and healthcare workers.
"The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert advisory committee, keeps all vaccine issues under review including Hepatitis B."
From this month, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has greater powers to decide UK vaccine policy.
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