Rates of Acute HBV Infection Decreased Over Past Decade

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Rates of Acute HBV Infection Decreased Over Past Decade

By Emma Patten

ATLANTA, Apr 13 (Reuters Health) - The incidence of acute hepatitis B virus

(HBV) infection declined dramatically over the last decade, according to

study findings reported at the 10th International Symposium on Viral

Hepatitis and Liver Disease. Dr. Goldstein from the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, presented the findings

here during this week's meeting.

After a period of relative stability in incidence between 1982 and 1987, the

reported incidence of acute HBV infections declined by 71.7 %, from 13.8

cases per 100,000 in 1987 to 3.9 cases per 100,000 in 1997, the

investigators found. The study, performed by researchers from the CDC's

hepatitis branch, is part of an ongoing effort to monitor the incidence of

HBV in the US.

Dr. Goldstein and other members of the Sentinel Counties Viral Hepatitis

Study Group gathered data from four counties in Florida, Colorado, Alabama

and Washington from 1982 to 1997. They analyzed demographic information on

3,842 patients with confirmed HBV and examined risk factors such as

intravenous drug use and high-risk sexual behaviors.

According to the study, the number of HBV cases decreased by 91.7% among

injection drug users, 85.7% among men who have sex with men, and by 44.1% in

men and women engaging in high-risk heterosexual activity. The decreases

were observed across all ethnic groups and in both men and women.

" The decrease is probably due to increases in hepatitis B vaccination, but

may also result from changes in behavior in response to the AIDS epidemic, "

Dr. Goldstein told Reuters Health. " Although the incidence of HBV has

declined dramatically, we must continue to vaccinate high-risk individuals

and counsel those engaging in high-risk sexual and drug behaviors, " she

cautioned.