Liver carcinoma prevention among Asian Pacific Islanders - Getting hepatitis B shots into arms

BACKGROUND. For the past 20 pears, the hepatitis B virus (HBV) has infected at least 250,000 persons annually in the United States. Persons with chron ic HBV infection are at increased risk for liver carcinoma. Among immigrant s to the United States from countries with high HBV endemicity, high rates of chronic HBV infection account in large part for their high incidence rat es of liver carcinoma. Among those who haw not been infected, hepatitis B a nd hepatitis B-related liver carcinoma can be prevented through hepatitis B vaccine immunizations. In this article, the authors examine hepatitis B va ccine coverage rates From surveys of Asian and Pacific Islander children in Houston, Texas and Los Angeles County, California. METHODS. In Houston, the authors surveyed the parents of 300 students aged 10 to 18 years at a Vietnamese-language school. In Los Angeles County, they surveyed parents of 471 fourth grade students from 6 different Asian and P acific Islander ethnic groups in 8 public elementary schools. RESULTS, In Houston, 55% of responding parents submitted immunization recor ds indicating that their child had had 3 hepatitis B shots; 3% reported tha t their child had had no shots. In Los Angeles County, 37% (Filipino) to 67 % (Japanese) had had 3 shots; proportions of children having had no shots r anged from 5% to 15%. CONCLUSIONS. Under current immunization practices, the authors estimate tha t nearly 13,000 Asian and Pacific Islander children living in the United St ates today will become infected with HBV in the future, resulting in more t han 600 liver carcinoma deaths. It is essential that cancer control agencie s in the United States take leadership in raising awareness about the role of HBV in the etiology of liver carcinoma and that of the hepatitis B vacci ne in preventing it. Cancer 2001;91: 252-6. (C) 2001 American Cancer Societ y.