hepatitis baccines against HBV have been available since 1982, but the disease remains “one of the most prevalent yet most neglected health problems in the world,” reported Dr. Stephanie D. Chao of the Stanford school of Medicine in California. Asians and Asian Americans are disproportionately affected. In the United States, approximately half of the 1.2 to 2 million people with chronic hepatitis B are Asian or Pacific Islanders. Transmission from mother to newborn accounts for up to 40 percent of HBV infection in this population.
Fewer than 75 percent of these babies complete the vaccination series. “These failures to comply with CDC recommendations may be due, in part, to a pervasive lack of awareness and knowledge among first-line health care providers.” Chronic hepatitis B infection typically has no symptoms, Chao noted, until serious liver damage has been done. Untreated cases have a 25 percent risk of death from liver cancer or liver failure. Thus, infected individuals should get liver cancer screening with ultrasound and a blood test for alpha-fetoprotein. The risk of liver cancer from HBV infection was reviewed by Dr. Morris Sherman of University of Toronto, Canada. Individuals with high viral loads are the ones most likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer. Antiviral therapy can significantly reduce the risk.
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