The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #50344

Stephanie Chao¹, Wijan Prapong¹, and Samuel K.S. So, MD, FACS². (1) The Asian Liver Center, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Dr, H3680, Stanford, CA 94305, 650-736-1883, sdchao@stanford.edu, (2) Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford University Medical School, 300 Pasteur Drive, H3680, Stanford, CA 94305

The greatest disparity in cancer rates between Asian and Pacific Islander (API) and Caucasian Americans is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 80% of which is caused by chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection. To address this disparity, the Asian Liver Center developed the Jade Ribbon Campaign as a health intervention model to prevent hepatitis B and liver cancer. As a public service to the API community, the Asian Liver Center held a free hepatitis B screening over the period of one day (5 hours) in Palo Alto, CA. During the screening, 486 adult ethnic Chinese Americans (mean age=46.5) were screened for chronic hepatitis B (presence of HBsAg), out of which 205 elected to receive comprehensive blood panels that additionally tested for prior infection with HBV (total anti-HBc) and HBV immunity (anti-HBs). Participants were also asked to report information about their family HBV history. Results: Among the 486 adults tested, 12.1% (n=59) were HBV carriers (HBsAg positive). Analysis of the serologic data in the 205 people who received a comprehensive blood panel, only 6.5% (n=15) showed immunity to HBV due to prior vaccination. 60% (n=123) showed serologic evidence of prior HBV infection (anti-HBc positive) in which 17.1% (n=35) had chronic HBV infection (HBsAg positive) and 31.2% (n=64) developed natural immunity due to prior infection (anti-HBs positive). Among participants who had children, only 38% reported vaccinating their children. Conclusion: Data gathered from this event both demonstrated the need for and helped in the design of culturally specific health intervention in the API community.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to

• Understand magnitude of hepatitis B infection in the API community through analysis of hepatitis B infection rates in the San Francisco Bay Area Chinese-American community
• Interpret hepatitis B blood panels to understand a patients’ hepatitis B exposure and hepatitis B history
• Discuss and propose outreach methods to address hepatitis B awareness in the API community and evaluate education effectiveness

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.