Asian Americans Account For 58% Of People With Hepatitis B In The US, CDC Says

NBC News (5/9, Venkatraman) reports, “National health care officials are sounding the alarm this month on the disproportionate impact of hepatitis B on Asian American communities, encouraging them to get tested and, if needed, vaccinated.” Out of the 580,000 to 1.17 million patients “who suffer from the virus in the U.S., 58% are Asian, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s a drastic percentage considering Asian Americans only comprise around 7% of the U.S. population, but experts say it can be explained by the high rates of the disease across Asia.”