martes, 13 de agosto de 2019

Viral Hepatitis Updates from the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy

National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) | CDC


Viral Hepatitis Updates from the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy

Dear Colleague,
August is Immunization Awareness Month – a time for us to reflect on the important role that vaccinations play in improving health outcomes and ultimately saving lives. As you know, immunizations stem the transmission of dozens of infectious diseases, including viral hepatitis. Vaccines have effectively changed the course of population health both at home and globally. However, the need for continued progress remains, especially as we look toward achieving our national viral hepatitis elimination goals.

Despite safe and effective vaccines for hepatitis A and hepatitis B, hepatitis A outbreaks have occurred in 29 states (2016–today) and hepatitis B rates were above the Healthy People 2020 goal for nine states in 2016. As states across the country continue to respond to growing hepatitis A outbreaks and specific communities face higher hepatitis A outbreak risk , immunization is the best prevention action to take. One dose of the hepatitis A vaccine has been shown to control outbreaks and provides up to 95% protection in healthy adults, which will also prevent new outbreaks. Recent steep increases in hepatitis B in a number of states have occurred because not enough people are vaccinated for hepatitis B.

Ensuring vaccination of all infants and at-risk adults can prevent infections and unnecessary deaths. Successful implementation of widespread hepatitis A and B immunization programs can move us toward achieving the first goal of the National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan: preventing new viral hepatitis infections. If you’re interested in learning more about hepatitis A and B vaccinations or want to share information with others, please visit our basics pages.


Corinna Dan, RN, MPH
Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services​

What's New in the Blog

In case you missed them, here’s a quick rundown of posts recently published on the HHS Viral Hepatitis blog:

Hepatitis in the News

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