CDC: Hepatitis B Cases Down 89 Percent Among Children, Adolescents in 1990s

On Thursday, CDC reported that the incidence of hepatitis B cases among U.S. children and adolescents dropped by 89 percent between 1990 and 2002 due to childhood vaccination against the disease. In 1991, the government recommended all infants receive hepatitis B vaccination, a vaccination program that was expanded in 1995 to cover 11- and 12-year-olds and in 1999 to cover all children.

Between 1990 and 2002, 13,829 cases of hepatitis B were reported among U.S. children and adolescents. Hepatitis B incidence dropped from 3.03 cases per 100,000 people in 1990 to 0.34 cases per 100,000 in 2002.

Hepatitis B attacks the liver, and can cause liver scarring, liver cancer, liver failure and death. Hepatitis B can be transmitted by contact with blood or other body fluids, as well as through sex or shared needles, or from an infected mother to her infant during birth.

The full report, "Acute Hepatitis B Among Children and Adolescents -- United States, 1990-2002," was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2004;53(43):1015-1018).

Back to other news for November 5, 2004