Important note: Information in this article was accurate in August 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, August 6, 2001
Sonia Nichols, Staff Medical Writer
NewsRx - Even though a hepatitis B vaccine has been available for almost 20 years, the vaccination rate in young gay males is still falling short, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
D.A. MacKellar and associates in the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention at the CDC reported in the American Journal of Public Health that a review of hepatitis B immunization practices among young men who have sex with men (MSM) revealed dismal findings although public health officials have promoted vaccination in this at-risk population since the early 1980s.
Data representing more than 3,000 MSM gathered over a four-year period in several major U.S cities showed the vaccination rate in this group was 9%, while the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection rate was 11%.
"HBV infection ranged from 2% among 15-year-olds to 17% among 22-year-olds," MacKellar and colleagues said.
Even though the vaccination rate was low, almost all study participants reported having regular access to health care or taking part in programs that test for human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted diseases ("Two decades after vaccine license: Hepatitis B immunization and infection among young men who have sex with men," Am J Public Health 2001 Jun;91(6):965-71.
"Despite the availability of an effective vaccine for nearly two decades, our findings suggest that few adolescent and young adult MSM in the United States are vaccinated against hepatitis B," MacKellar and coauthors noted.
CDC investigators suggested that health care providers should be proactive in identifying and immunizing this susceptible population.
The corresponding author for this study is D.A. MacKellar, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, MS E-46, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. E-mail: dym4@cdc.gov.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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