Most Hepatitis B carriers aren't being treated, survey finds

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By Erin Ellis, Vancouver Sun May 30, 2012


Most Asian Canadians who know they are chronically infected with hepatitis B are not being treated by a doctor, says a survey released today by the Chinese advocacy group S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
Photograph by: Joe Raedle , Getty Images

Most Asian Canadians who know they are chronically infected with hepatitis B are not being treated by a doctor, says a survey released today by the Chinese advocacy group S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

The group interviewed one thousand people in seven languages by telephone in April. It found that 70 per cent of those diagnosed with hepatitis B are not being treated by a doctor and 88 per cent aren't taking medication for it.

Hepatitis B is more common among immigrants from Asia because the virus that causes it is often passed from mother to child at birth and remains undetected for years with few symptoms. S.U.C.C.E.S.S wants to increase awareness in order to prevent suffering and higher health care cost. Treatment with a newer range of medications, for instance, can often prevent hepatitis B from progressing to liver cancer, experts say.

There are about 60,000 cases of chronic hepatitis B in Metro Vancouver with about 1,300 new cases reported in 2009. It's expected that hepatitis B will be eradicated in Canada once everyone is reached through school immunization programs. Similar immunization projects are underway throughout Asia, but are not as widespread. About 15 per cent of Asian immigrants to Canada are infected with the virus compared to one per cent of Canadians.

Left untreated, hepatitis B either clears up on its own or becomes a chronic, low-level infection that puts extra strain on the liver and can lead to cirrhosis or cancer. A simple blood test can find out if a person is a carrier.

Forty-nine per cent of all survey respondents said they had been tested for hepatitis B including Filipinos (62 per cent), Chinese (60 per cent) and Koreans (33 per cent).

The survey, which is considered accurate to a range of plus or minus 2.2 per cent 19 times out of 20, was commissioned by S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

It focused on people from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodian, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma.

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Original source article: Most Hepatitis B carriers aren't being treated, survey finds

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