Hepatitis B campaign for youths launched
By Adrienne Ancheta
Advertiser Staff Writer
A campaign to prevent hepatitis B in more than 200,000 Hawai'i youths between 6 and 18 years old kicked off yesterday to address the high incidence of the disease here.
Advertiser library photo • March 24, 2000
The hepatitis B rate in Hawai'i is six times the national average.
Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono helped announce a new hepatitis B prevention program.
Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono was joined by Deputy Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu and state health director Bruce Anderson in announcing Teen VAX, which provides hospitals and clinics with free vaccinations against hepatitis B, chicken pox, measles, mumps and rubella.
The department is a partner with health insurers and hospitals to ensure the vaccines are administered at low or no cost to patients.
Hepatitis B vaccines, which include three doses over six months, cost as much as $300, Anderson said. More than $300,000 of federal and private financing has been allocated to the campaign.
"We will continue to work towards protecting all of Hawai'i's children," Moritsugu said.
Vaccination against hepatitis B, an infection of the liver that can lead to liver cancer, is emphasized in the campaign because of its high incidence among Asian Pacific Islanders, department officials said.
Hepatitis B is transmitted through sexual contact, needles and sharing of bodily fluids. The virus is more contagious than HIV and can remain infectious on surfaces for up to 30 days. An increasing rate of body piercings and tattooing is a concern because both are common ways to transmit hepatitis B, Anderson said.
"It's critical that we vaccinate kids before they get into the ages of risky behavior," he said.
Each year, 200,000 people in the United States are infected with the virus and 4,000 to 5,000 people die from it, heath officials said. One in 20 people will be infected with the virus at some time in their lives.
In Hawai'i, 120 to 140 people are reported to be hospitalized for the disease each year. A 1989 survey determined that 13 percent of high school students here were exposed to the disease, though how many new cases occur each year is unknown, according to the officials.
Since 1996, more than 110,000 — about 42 percent of children ages 6 to 18 — were vaccinated against hepatitis B, but only 240,000 doses were administered — fewer than the 330,000 doses for the necessary three-dose vaccination for each child.
The campaign, which will include television and radio promotions, is scheduled to continue through December 2002. For details, call the Hawai'i Immunization Program at 586-8332 or (800)933-4832.
