Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of Viral Hepatitis in Foreign-Born Populations in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, 2009–2015

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Community Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

While the majority of viral hepatitis is experienced in the developing world, migration of people from high prevalence countries contributes to health outcomes in the United States. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in foreign-born immigrants living in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. This study used cross-sectional data from 5982 individuals screened at community events held from 2009 to 2015. Descriptive statistics were generated to describe the screening results. Positive results for HBV infection (HBsAg+) and HCV infection (HCVAb+) were analyzed according to age, gender, and country of birth. Of 5982, the majority of participants were born in Asia (77.8%). The prevalence of infection was 6.1% for HBV and 3.8% for HCV in Asia-born immigrants compared to 3.7% for HBV and 2.8% for HCV in Africa-born immigrants. Among participants who were Asia-born, prevalence of HBV infection was highest for those from Cambodia (11.9%) compared to Vietnam (8.2%), China (8.1%), Laos (6.1%), and Korea (4.6%). Among participants who were Africa-born, prevalence of HBV was highest for those from Liberia (6.7%) and Sierra Leone (6.7%), followed by Cameroon (4.4%) and Nigeria (4.2%). The highest HCV prevalence occurred among those from Cambodia (10.8%) and Myanmar (4.9%) in Asia and those from Cameroon (11.4%) and Nigeria (4.8%) in Africa. This study suggests that screening data are disaggregated by country of birth, then improvements can be made to programs for prevention, earlier diagnosis, and linkage to care.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ferlay, J., et al. (2015). Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: Sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. International Journal of Cancer, 136(5), E359–E386.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Perz, J. F., Armstrong, G. L., Farrington, L. A., Hutin, Y. J., & Bell, B. P. (2006). The contributions of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer worldwide. Journal of Hepatology, 45(4), 529–538.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Kowdley, K. V., Wang, C. C., Welch, S., Roberts, H., & Brosgart, C. L. (2012). Prevalence of chronic hepatitis B among foreign-born persons living in the United States by country of origin. Hepatology, 56(2), 422–433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Mohd Hanafiah, K., Groeger, J., Flaxman, A. D., & Wiersma, S. T. (2013). Global epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection: New estimates of age-specific antibody to HCV seroprevalence. Hepatology, 57(4), 1333–1342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Pollack, H. J., Kwon, S. C., Wang, S. H., Wyatt, L. C., & Trinh-Shevrin, C. (2014). Chronic hepatitis B and liver cancer risks among Asian immigrants in New York City: Results from a large, community-based screening, evaluation, and treatment program. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 23(11), 2229–2239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Hwang, J. P., Mohseni, M., Gor, B. J., Wen, S., Guerrero, H., & Vierling, J. M. (2010). Hepatitis B and hepatitis C prevalence and treatment referral among Asian Americans undergoing community-based hepatitis screening. American Journal of Public Health, 100(Suppl 1), S118–S124.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Xu, J. J., Tien, C., Chang, M., et al. (2013). Demographic and serological characteristics of Asian Americans with hepatitis B infection diagnosed at community screenings. Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 20(8), 575–581.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Shankar, H., Blanas, D., Bichoupan, K., Ndiaye, D., Carmody, E., Martel-Laferriere, V., et al. (2016). A novel collaborative community-based hepatitis B screening and linkage to care program for African immigrants. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 62(Suppl 4), S289–S297.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Chandrasekar, E., Song, S., Johnson, M., Harris, A. M., Kaufman, G. I., Freedman, D., et al. (2016). A novel strategy to increase identification of African-born people with chronic hepatitis B virus infection in the Chicago metropolitan area, 2012–2014. Preventing chronic disease (vol. 13). Accessed August 22, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2016/16_0162.htm.

  10. Klevens, R. M., Hu, D. J., Jiles, R., & Holmberg, S. D. (2012). Evolving epidemiology of hepatitis C virus in the United States. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 55(Supp 1), 3–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Hepatitis B Initiative of Washington, DC (HBI-DC) for providing the data that supported this work. Free community-based health screenings organized by HBI-DC are supported by Gilead, DC Mayor’s Office on African Affairs, DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, Hep B United, Northern VA Community Foundation, Ruth H. Kuo and Rhoda How Memorial Foundation, and individual donors.

Funding

This analysis was funded by the National Cancer Institute (R01CA163805).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, 834 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Hee-Soon Juon & Frederic Kim

  2. Stanford-O’Conner Family Medicine Residency, 455 O’Conner Dr., San Jose, CA, 95128, USA

    Emmeline Ha

  3. HBI-DC, 1725 I Street NW, Washington, DC, 20005, USA

    Amy Trang & Jane Pan

  4. Milken Institute of School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Janice Blanchard

Authors
  1. Hee-Soon Juon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emmeline Ha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Frederic Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Amy Trang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jane Pan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Janice Blanchard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hee-Soon Juon.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None of the authors have any conflict of interest to report.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Juon, HS., Ha, E., Kim, F. et al. Prevalence of Viral Hepatitis in Foreign-Born Populations in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, 2009–2015. J Community Health 44, 203–207 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0573-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0573-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation