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CDC Updates Testing Guidelines for Hepatitis B
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its recommendations for hepatitis B screening.
Detailed in MMWR Recommendations and Reports, screening should now extend to men who have sex with men, injection-drug users, people receiving cytotoxic or immunosuppressive therapy, those with liver disease of unknown cause, and all individuals born, for example, in Africa and Asia — regions where the prevalence of HBsAg is at least 2%.
Previously, the CDC had recommended screening only for pregnant women, babies of HBsAg-positive mothers, household contacts and sexual partners of those infected, those needing postexposure prophylaxis after needlestick injury or sexual assault, those infected with HIV, and those born in regions with HBsAg prevalence of 8% or higher.
The guidelines also offer advice on monitoring the disease and preventing its transmission among contacts.
LINK(S):
MMWR article (Free)
CDC press release (Free)
Published in Physician's First Watch September 19, 2008
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