Study finds hepatitis B virus 10 times likelier in Koreans

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Study finds hepatitis B virus 10 times likelier in Koreans

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Last updated: Saturday February 5, 2011, 10:02 AM

BY BARBARA WILLIAMS

The Record

STAFF WRITER

Korean-Americans living in North Jersey are at least 10 times more likely to

have the hepatitis B virus than the general population, according to a screening

program finished late last year.

Health workers with the Korean Medical Program from Holy Name Medical Center

tested 1,656 Korean-American adults from January through November and found that

3.2 percent of the participants were carriers for the disease, compared with 0.3

percent in the general population.

Fast facts

* More than $100,000 in donations made to Holy Name Medical Center’s Korean

Medical Program covered the $100-per-person cost for the vaccine, as well as the

$210 price for the three-part vaccines.

* The program draws patients from such Korean enclaves as Fort Lee, Palisades

Park, Leonia, Closter, Queens, Long Island and South Jersey.

Medical experts said it was actually good news: They had expected 8 percent to

10 percent to have the virus.

" I'm happy it was lower than we thought and the prevalence of the disease is

shifting down, " said Dr. Chul S. Hyun, director of the hospital's Asian Liver

Center. " We feel good that a large number of people have been vaccinated. "

More startling to program leaders were the 700, or 42 percent of the

participants, who have not been vaccinated, leaving them susceptible to the

virus.

" We still have a lot of work to do, " said Kyung-Hee Choi, director of the

program. " That 42 percent is very alarming — we're following through and trying

to get those people in for vaccines. "

The hepatitis B virus, which doesn't always produce symptoms, can cause swelling

and inflammation of the liver. This occurs when the body's immune system detects

the infection and sends cells to fight the disease, causing the inflammation,

which may lead to liver failure or liver cancer.

Those with symptoms may suffer appetite loss, fatigue, fever, low-grade muscle

aches, nausea, vomiting, yellow skin and dark urine.

About 1.25 million people nationwide and 65,000 in New Jersey have chronic

hepatitis B, according to Liver Care of New Jersey.

Medical experts are baffled over the prevalence of the disease in the nation's

Asian-American community. Estimates have Chinese-Americans with an 8 percent

rate and Vietnamese-Americans as high as 12 percent.

" It's a mystery, but we believe the disease was present thousands of years ago

in Asia, " Hyun said. " But I can't tell you why. "

The most common method of spreading the virus is when pregnant women, infected

but unaware of their disease, pass it on to their infants during childbirth. It

is also spread through bodily fluids and sharing items such as toothbrushes,

razors, nail clippers and needles.

Hyun attributes the living conditions found in North Jersey for the

Korean-Americans' relatively low rate of the virus.

" People in a higher socio-economic class have a lower incidence because they get

vaccinated and live in a sanitary environment, " Hyun said.

Out of those screened, 53 people were carriers. Two had liver cancer and are now

in treatment.

rs can take anti-viral medications, much like those with HIV, to prevent

serious damage to the liver.

But not all the carriers have returned for follow-up care, and about two-thirds

of the 700 susceptible to the illness have not been back for vaccines, Choi

said.

" About one-third came in for the vaccine. Another third said they are too busy

working keeping their grocery store or shop going, and another third said they

are old and not worried about getting the disease, " Choi said. " But we're

working on getting them all to come in. "

E-mail: williamsb@...