Prevalence and Risks For Asians and Pacific Islanders
While 0.3% of the United States population has chronic hepatitis B infection, APIs make up more than half of the 1.3-1.5 million known hepatitis B carriers. Depending on the country of origin, 5-15% of foreign born APIs in the US are hepatitis B carriers. In some Pacific Rim countries, as many as 10-20% of the population are hepatitis B carriers.
Despite the availability of the hepatitis B vaccine, vaccination rates outside the US are low and hepatitis B remains a global health problem. Therefore, many children worldwide remain unvaccinated and many adults may be chronic carriers. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 350-400 million people with chronic hepatitis B and many are not even aware of their condition. Although most hepatitis B carriers have no symptoms, they can still transmit the infection and develop liver cancer.
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