To the Editor: The Auckland Statement on Viral Hepatitis, released in September 2012, called for action to prevent new hepatitis B and C infections.1 Estimates suggest that more than 200 000 Australians are living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, with nearly half being unaware of their diagnosis.2,3 Childhood vaccination is crucial to HBV prevention, but many people from high-risk populations, including immigrants and refugees from endemic countries, are infected before arriving in Australia.4 Targeted screening of high-risk groups for susceptibility or undiagnosed infection is therefore also integral to public health management of HBV infection.
The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.
- 1. The Auckland Statement on Viral Hepatitis. In: Proceedings of the 8th Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference; 2012 Sep 10–12; Auckland, New Zealand. http://www.aucklandstatement. com/images/pdf/Auckland_Statement.pdf (accessed Oct 2012).
- 2. Kirby Institute. HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia: annual surveillance report 2012. Sydney: Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, 2012: 122.
- 3. Williams S, Vally H, Fielding J, Cowie B. Hepatitis B prevention in Victoria, Australia: the potential to protect. Euro Surveill 2011; 16: pii 19879.
- 4. Cowie B. The linguistic demography of Australians living with chronic hepatitis B. Aust N Z J Public Health 2011; 35: 12-15.
- 5. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. http://www9.health.gov. au/cda/source/cda-index.cfm (accessed Mar 2013).
- 6. Scognamiglio P, Girardi E, Fusco M, et al. Lack of implementation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination policy in household contacts of HBV carriers in Italy. BMC Infect Dis 2009; 9: 86.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
This project was funded by GlaxoSmithKline. I am grateful to Dr Ben Cowie for his expert advice and review of the content of this letter.
I have received travel support from GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur.