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March 20, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Hepatitis B on Decline But Many Still at Risk"

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (03/18/02); Stenson, Jacqueline

A new Journal of Infectious Diseases report on hepatitis B and its presence in the United States has informed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that vaccination programs for high-risk adults have been relatively successful, reducing new cases of the disease in recent years, and given the organization focal points for future programs.  Researchers studied four U.S. counties from 1982, when a vaccine for hepatitis B was introduced, to 1998, because of their representation of the rest of the U.S. population, and they found that new cases of the disease declined from 1987, when there were 13.8 cases per 100,000 people, to 1998, when there were just 3.3 cases per 100,000 people.  The largest drop-off was noted in people between the ages of 10 years and 19 years, probably due to vaccinations following recommendations for the practice among children in 1991 and among teenagers in 1995.  Other declines in at-risk groups, such as intravenous drug users and gay men, were attributed not to vaccination but to needle-exchange programs and advocacy for safer sex practices, respectively.

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