High Hepatitis B Rate Found in Asians in NYC

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters Health) - A community hepatitis B screening program targeting mainly underserved foreign-born Asian residents of New York City found a higher number of cases of infection than previously reported among Asian populations in the United States.

Investigators reported an overall prevalence of 24 percent among the 1,836 people screened as of June 30. Previous hepatitis screening programs in the US have reported prevalence rates of 10 percent to 15 percent.

The year of screening attracted mostly China- and Korea-born immigrants, said Dr. Alex Sherman, clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine. He will present the results of the screening program this week here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Sherman said many of the participants haven't had ready access to medical care either because of language, economics or other reasons.

Some of the participants may not have been aware of their risk of hepatitis B infection, or the medical implications of an untreated infection, or that effective, well-tolerated, oral treatments have become available in the last 2 or 3 years that can reduce the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

He speculated that the higher prevalence found in this screening program might reflect the success of the community outreach effort to find underserved, foreign-born Asian immigrants. He noted that this was not a randomized study, but rather people participated in response to the media campaign and outreach efforts.

In the program, 99 percent of the participants were foreign born, 60 percent from China, about 30 percent were from Korea, and 7 percent were from Malaysia.

Of those born in China, 33 percent were infected. Of those born in Korea or other Asian countries, 11 percent were infected. "Being born in China was one of the risk factors," Sherman said.

Also, male participants had a higher prevalence than females -- at 31 percent and 15 percent, respectively -- and those between 19 and 40 years old, who had a 34 percent prevalence compared with 17 percent for older or younger participants.

Overall, 28 percent carried no immunity and were referred for vaccination, and 49 percent appeared to have been previously vaccinated.

"We figure that half of the population we screened were eligible for intervention," Sherman said.

The study was sponsored by a New York City Council grant to the Asian American Hepatitis B Program (AAHBP), which aims to screen 5000 Asian Americans for chronic hepatitis B and organize treatment.