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April 28, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Hepatitis B a Deadly Threat to U.S. Asians"

Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com) (04/28/03) P. 6; Gottleib, Jeff; Yi, Daniel

Asians living in the United States are up to 30 times more likely to contract hepatitis B than their white counterparts, and a recent study found 13 percent of 828 Vietnamese people in Orange County, Calif., had the disease while another 69 percent had exposure to the disease.  Although some states require hepatitis B vaccinations before entering middle school, critics are concerned that enough is not being done to warn adolescents and adults, especially in the Asian community, to get tested for the disease. The reason why hepatitis B rates are higher in Asian communities is that immigrants moving to the United States bring the disease with them; the disease is spread by childbirth, from child to child due to sharing toothbrushes or contact with cuts and scrapes, by intravenous drug use, and through sexual intercourse.  California requires all kindergarten children, seventh-graders, and state college students to receive the hepatitis B vaccine, and 66 percent of Asian children are currently vaccinated.  The result has been a slight reduction in the number of hepatitis B cases in the state.

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