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Hepatitis
& liver disease in the United States.
- 25,000,000
Americans – one in every 10 – are or have been afflicted
with liver, biliary or gallbladder disease.
- Over 26,000
Americans die each year from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis;
Over 350,000 people are hospitalized each year due to cirrhosis.
- Alcoholic
liver diseases and chronic hepatitis C are the leading causes
of cirrhosis.
- An estimated
25,000 people were infected newly infected with the hepatitis
C virus (HCV) in 2001.
- It is
estimated that over 4 million people are or have been infected
with hepatitis C; 2.7 of whom are chronically infected; approximately
70% of people infected do not know they have the virus.
- 10,000-12,000
people die of hepatitis C each year. The Centers for Disease
Control & Prevention (CDC) estimate that the number of annual
deaths from hepatitis C will greatly increase in the next 10-20
years. Hepatitis C is the leading indication for liver transplantation.
- Hepatitis
B is responsible for 5,000 deaths annually, including 3,000-4,000
from cirrhosis and approximately 1,000-1,500 from primary liver
cancer.
- One out
of every 250 people is a carrier of hepatitis B and can pass
it on to others, often unknowingly.
- There were
approximately 78,000 estimated new infections of hepatitis B
in the United States in 2001.
- Up to 90%
of pregnant women who are carriers of the hepatitis B virus
could transmit the virus to their children. Vaccination of newborns
would prevent them from becoming carriers.
- Screening
pregnant women for HBV and vaccinating newborns with the hepatitis
B vaccine have led to a decline in the number of babies with
hepatitis B.
- Hepatitis
B is 100 times more infectious than HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS. There are 500 million hepatitis B viral particles in one
teaspoon of blood compared to 5-10 HIV particles.
- The estimated
medical and work loss per year of hepatitis B is $700 million;
the estimated medical and work loss cost per year of hepatitis
C is $600 million.
- One out
of every 20 people will be infected with hepatitis B in his/her
lifetime.
- 30% of
people with acute HBV infection show no symptoms.
- During
epidemic years, the number of reported cases of hepatitis A
has reached 35,000.
- Because
of the shortage of organs, it is estimated that nearly 1,800
prospective recipients died in 2002 while waiting for a liver
for transplantation. There are currently over 17,700 people
waiting for a liver transplant. Approximately 5,300 liver transplants
were performed in 2002.
- You are
at a high risk of hepatitis C infection if you: were notified
that you received blood from a donor who later tested positive
for hepatitis C; have ever injected illegal drugs , even if
you experimented a few times many years ago; received a blood
transfusion or solid organ transplant before July 1992; received
a blood product for clotting problems produced before 1987;
have ever been on long-term kidney dialysis; have received a
tattoo or body piercing (although considered to be of a lesser
degree of risk, contamination of needles is possible).
- You are
at a high risk of hepatitis B infection if you: have sex with
someone infected with HBV; have sex with more than one partner;
are a man who has sex with men; liver in the same house with
someone who has lifelong HBV infection; have a job that involves
contact with human blood; inject illicit drugs; are a patient
or work in a home for the developmentally disabled; have hemophilia;
travel to areas where hepatitis B is common.
- You are
at risk of hepatitis A infection if you are in a household with
infected persons; have sexual contact with an infected person;
if you live in regions of the U.S. with consistently increased
rates of hepatitis A ; if you travel to countries or regions
where hepatitis A is common (especially the Middle East, South
American, Eastern Europe, Central America, Africa, Southeast
Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean); if you are a man who has sex
with men; and if you are an injecting or non-injecting drug
user.
- Non-Hispanic
African Americans have the highest infection rate for hepatitis
C; Asian and Pacific Islanders have the highest rate for hepatitis
B infection.
The
American Liver Foundation is a national, nonprofit health organization
dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of hepatitis and
other liver diseases through research, education and advocacy.
American
Liver Foundation
Mid-South Chapter
5583 Murray Road, Suite 205, Memphis, TN 38119
(901) 766-7668 ~ (866) 756-7668 Toll Free ~ (800) GO LIVER info
line
Email: ljackson@liverfoundation.org
Website: www.midsouthliverfoundation.org
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