Hepatitis BThe Untold Story of a Silent Killer

About Hepatitis

The word “hepatitis” means inflammation of the liver

Hepatitis B (HBV) is a virus that infects liver and causes liver cirrhosis and liver cancer

Silent Killer

Most people with HBV do not have any symptoms until it is too late

1 in 4 adults with chronic HBV will die from liver cancer or liver cirrhosis (WHO)

HBV is transmitted by contact with blood or body fluid from an infected person

There are 10x more people with chronic HBV than HIV/AIDS worldwide (WHO)

HBV is 50-100x more infectious than HIV (WHO)

HBV can survive outside the body for at least 7 days (WHO)

Health Disparity

HBV disproportionally affects Asian and Pacific Islanders (API)

1 in 10 Asian American has HBV. Liver cancer is the 2nd most common

cause of cancer death in Asian men

Perinatal Transmission

Most infections occur from mother to child

Over 90% of babies infected during the first year of life develop chronic infection (CDC)

20,000 hepatitis B infected women give birth each year in U.S. (CDC)

HBV Vaccination

Newborns born to infected mothers should be vaccinated (1st dose vaccine + HBIG) within 12 hours of birth

3 vaccine doses: month 0, 1, 6

Hepatitis B has been vaccine-preventable since 1982

Yet, 1 person still die every 30-45 seconds of HBV-caused liver cancer and liver failure

It is a silent epidemic!

Adrian Elkins

Adopted as an infant from India Received HBV vaccination upon

arrival to U.S Diagnosed with HBV only when

he was dying from liver cancer at 20-years-old

http://www.hepb.org/patients/personal_stories_adrian.htm

Mark Lim, MD

Diagnosed with HBV at 26-year-old, but was told by a doctor to not worry since he was a "healthy" asymptomatic carrier

Diagnosed with advanced liver cancer at 31-years-old

Died before 32nd birthday

http://www.sfweekly.com/2002-05-01/news/dying-to-know/

HBV Worldwide

2 billion people worldwide (1/3 world population) have been infected with HBV (WHO)

350 million people worldwide have chronic (lifelong) HBV (CDC)

1 million people die each year from liver disease and liver cancer (CDC)

Every 30–45 seconds, one person dies from the vaccine-preventable HBV

HBV in the U.S.

1.2 million Americans have chronic HBV (CDC)

More than half are APIs 5,000 Americans die each year from

hepatitis B-related liver disease (CDC) $700 million in medical and work loss

costs (CDC)

What Can You Do?

Get educated about HBV

Get tested for HBV

Get protected with HBV vaccine

Break the Silence

Read Know HBV brochure Talk to your family, friends, colleagues,

patients, and general public about HBV Write to House of Representatives to

support Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act of 2009 (HR 3974)

References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hepatitis

Branchhttp://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HBV/index.htm World Health Organizationhttp://www.who.int/immunization/topics/hepatitis_b/en/index.html Asian Liver Center at Stanford Universityhttp://liver.stanford.edu/ Team HBV Collegiate Chaptershttp://teamhbv.org USF Asian Pacific Medical Student Associationhttp://hsc.usf.edu/medstud/apamsa/hepatitis.html

For General Public Hepatitis B Foundationhttp://www.hepb.org/ American Liver Foundationwww.liverfoundation.org Tampa Bay Hepatitis & Liver Disease Support Grouphttp://thechancecenter.org/ Hillsborough County Epidemiology Program Perinatal

Hepatitis B Prevention Program (PHBPP)http://www.hillscountyhealth.org/epi/epi_main.htm

For Health Professionals Physician’s Guide to Hepatitis Bhttp://liver.stanford.edu/Public/pguide.html CDC Interpretation of Hepatitis B Serologic Test Resultshttp://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HBV/ProfResourcesB.htm CDC Recommended Doses of Hepatitis B Vaccines by Age Group and

Vaccine Typehttp://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HBV/HBVfaq.htm#recctbl CDC Recommendation for Routine Testing and Follow-up for Chronic

Hepatitis B Virus Infectionhttp://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HBV/ProfResourcesB.htm Continuing Medical Education Courses on Hepatitis Bhttp://www.hepb.org/learning_guide/cme_course.htm The Florida Hepatitis Prevention Program Presents: Hepatitis 101

Traininghttp://www.doh.state.fl.us/disease_ctrl/aids/hep/

Website: http://hsc.usf.edu/medstud/apamsa/

Email: usfapamsa@googlegroups.com