Chronic Hepatitis B Remains Public Health Challenge in U.S.

— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate

A new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on hepatitis B prevalence finds that while new infections have declined markedly, treating chronic hepatitis B infection remains a public health challenge.

New hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections have plummeted since 1990 due to comprehensive immunizations. The CDC report estimates only 18,760 people were infected with HBV in 2012. 

In 2012, the highest rates of new infections were among those aged 30–39 years (2.17 cases per 100,000 population), and the lowest were among children under age 19 who had been immunized at birth.

Many of the new infections were transmitted sexually or through injecting drug use.

However, an estimated 700,000 to 1.4 million U.S. residents are chronically infected. According to the report,Viral Hepatitis Surveillance United States, 2012, about half of those chronically infected were either born in Asia or were born to HBV-infected mothers in the United States.

In 2011, the death rate from chronic hepatitis B was 0.5 deaths per 100,000 population. The highest mortality rates were among people aged 55–64 years, Asian and Pacific Islander, and male.

"Identifying these chronically infected persons and linking them to care remains a challenge," the authors reported.

Source: www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Statistics/
2012Surveillance/

Source: http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ11.10.htm

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