— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
A University of California Irvine Medical Center
study finds hepatitis B and C infection rates remain high, and often
undiagnosed and untreated, among Vietnamese-Americans.
The study evaluated 1,405 Vietnamese-American
adults in Orange County who had been screened at community health
centers for both hepatitis B and C and HIV. (Often, doctors screen for
only hepatitis B in Asian-Americans.) The average age was 51, 55% were
women, most were married, and nearly all had been born in Vietnam.
Researchers found:
- 124 (8.8 %) were chronically infected with hepatitis B. Twelve
percent of them thought they had already been tested and found to be
hepatitis B-negative
- 81 (5.8 %) had hepatitis C, including four (0.3 %) with HBV/HCV
coinfections. About one-third of those with hepatitis C thought they
had been previously tested and found to be negative.
- 15.4% of those screened had never been vaccinated against hepatitis B
"This large serial survey and screening in the
Vietnamese-American community confirmed the rates of HBV and HCV
infection to be as high as
8.8 % and 5.8 %, respectively," researchers wrote in
the January issue of the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.
Source: HBV Journal Review, April 2014Labels: hidden disease, US epidemiology, Vietnamese-Americans
