March 10, 2023 – Two-thirds of individuals within the United States who're infected with the hepatitis B virus are unaware of their infection. This increases the chance of developing an incurable liver disease. The CDC now recommends that every one adults within the United States be tested for the virus at the very least once of their lifetime.
The CDC estimates that between 580,000 and a couple of.4 million people within the United States are infected with the hepatitis B virus. The latest testing advice comes because the country has failed to cut back its low but persistent infection rate. While there's a highly effective vaccine, 70 percent of adults say they've not gotten it.
Until now, the CDC advisable testing just for people at high risk. This risk-based method is stigmatizing, “has failed to identify most people with chronic HBV infection, and is considered inefficient for providers to implement,” the agency said in its advisory.
“Universal screening of adults is more cost-effective than risk-based screening and prevents liver disease and death,” the CDC warning continues. People with hepatitis B have an as much as 85 percent increased risk of premature death.
The virus is transmitted through contact with infected blood or body fluids, for instance during sexual activity, childbirth or through injected drugs. Most individuals who develop into infected with the virus develop into in poor health for a short while with symptoms corresponding to fatigue, lack of appetite, stomach pain, nausea and jaundice.
The latest recommendations are designed to discover cases that might progress to serious illness. The CDC estimates that universal screening could prevent about two liver transplants and 10 deaths per 100,000 people screened.