New York: East Asian immigrants in New York City are at a higher risk of contracting deadly liver disease than other Americans because of a prevalence of Hepatitis B infection among the population, a new study finds.
Screenings at community health centers throughout the city last year found nearly 15 per cent of East Asian immigrants had chronic Hepatitis B, according to a study.
The study was published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which cited the disease also as the most common cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The group's estimated rate of infection is 35 times than that of the general U S population.
Over half of the immigrants tested in the study were from China, where the awareness of the danger of hepatitis B is low and conduction of vaccination programs lack.
The disease is contracted through blood, and not through a casual contact. Those who develop chronic Hepatitis B at an early age face a 15 to 40 per cent chance of developing chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer, according to the study.
The condition is preventable, and U S vaccination programs have greatly reduced infection rates over the last decade.
The latest U S census data shows approximately 800,000 East Asians in New York, and the study results suggest as many as 100,000 carry the condition.
The study said screening programs in other U S cities including Atlanta and Chicago indicated similar results, estimating infection rates of 10 to 15 per cent among Asian immigrant populations.
Nearly half of the New York City group tested said that they have lived in the U S for at least 10 years.
More than three quarters did not have health insurance and had not been screened previously for Hepatitis B, which a person can carry for decades without showing any symptoms.
The study suggests that U S public health agencies and medical providers serving Asian populations and other communities where Hepatitis B is endemic, should promote awareness campaigns and screening programs.
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