title: Hepatitis B infection in the Asian and Latino communities of Alameda County, California.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and to examine factors related to HBV screening and vaccination among various Asian and Latino populations in Alameda County, CA. A cross-sectional study was conducted on Asian and Latino residents who registered with an HBV screening program from June 2009-February 2011. All participants completed a sociodemographic survey and were offered free HBV blood testing for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody (HBsAb). The 3-shot vaccination series was provided for free to unprotected participants. Among the 792 registered participants, 84.4% (n = 669) received a blood test. Of the 669 tested participants, 7.9% (n = 53) tested HBV positive (HBsAg+, HBsAb -), 46.2% (n = 309) were protected (HBsAg -, HBsAb +), and 45.9% (n = 307) were susceptible to HBV infection (HBsAg -, HBsAb -). Among those unprotected, 60% completed the vaccine series. Multivariate analysis showed that being Vietnamese (OR = 5.53, 95% CI 1.54, 19.85), living in the US >10 years (OR = 2.12, 95% CI 1.13, 3.97), and having at least a college education (OR = 2.55, 95% CI 1.28, 5.07) were important predictors of vaccine completion. Given the various HBsAg + prevalence, screening, and vaccine completion rates among the different ethnic groups in this study, it is clear that different approaches in screening and vaccinating individual ethnic groups for hepatitis B are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. khur2@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.forename: Myo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hee-Soon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Juon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D008986:Mongolia / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines