CDC: New HBV Infections Decline, But Death Toll Rises Among Older Adults

 —Christine. M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate 

The number of documented new hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections dropped 64% between 2000 to 2011 due primarily to immunization, according to new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.

However, this number under-estimates the true incidence of hepatitis B because the infection can be asymptomatic and is rarely reported to health agencies. CDC estimates that the true number of new HBV infections in the United States each year ranges from 7,400 to 86,200. 

In 2011, the highest HBV infection rates were in people aged 30–39. African-Americans bore the brunt of new infections, with 1.4 cases per 100,000 people, compared to Asian-Americans and Hispanics who had acute infection rates of 0.4 cases per 100,000. The national infection rate was 0.9 per 100,000.

While Asian-Americans have the highest rates of chronic hepatitis B infection, most of those infections occurred at birth or early childhood, these new infections occurred primarily among adults.

Most of the new infections were reported to CDC because of jaundice or severe liver damage that resulted in hospitalization and a hepatitis B diagnosis.

Of the new infections, 62.4% of patients reported they had no known risk factors or behaviors that may have led to their infection. Of the 38% with reported risk factors:
The death rate from hepatitis B has been increasing among persons aged 55–64, and most were Asian-American and male. The death rate increased from 1.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2006 to 1.7 deaths in 2010.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Statistics/2011Surveillance/Commentary.htm#hepB

Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Viral Hepatitis

Surveillance for Viral Hepatitis – United States, 2011


As part of CDC’s National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS),  viral hepatitis case-reports are received electronically from state health departments via CDC’s National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance (NETSS). Although surveillance infrastructure is in place for reporting of acute infection, reports of chronic hepatitis B and C, which account for the greatest burden of disease, are not submitted by all states. Surveillance capacity to monitor both acute and chronic viral hepatitis is limited at the state and local levels, resulting in underreporting and incomplete variable quality data that is insufficient for understanding the magnitude of viral hepatitis. Data in this report should be interpreted with the consideration that reported cases of acute or chronic viral hepatitis represent only those relatively few infected persons who were detected, diagnosed, met a stringent case definition, and eventually reported to CDC in 2011. 

Because most acute and chronic infections are not reported, this Summary is mainly useful in detecting major trends in viral hepatitis A (HAV), B (HBV) and C (HCV).

http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Statistics/2011Surveillance/index.htm

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