Hepatitis - Diagnosis

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The CDC recommends routine testing for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection for the following high risk groups:

• People born in regions with high rates of hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis B is very common in Asian and Pacific Island countries. In the United States, 1 in 10 Asian Americans are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus. Other regions with high rates of HBV prevalence include Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, South and Central America, and the Caribbean. US-born people not vaccinated as infants whose parents were born in these regions should also be screened for HBV.
• People who use injected drugs or who share needles
• Men who have sex with men
• People receiving chemotherapy or immunosuppressive therapy for certain medical conditions including cancer, organ transplantation, or rheumatologic or gastoenterologic disorders
• Donors of blood, organs, or semen
• Hemodialysis patients
• All pregnant women and infants born to mothers infected with HBV; pregnant women should be screened for HBV at their first neonatal visit
• People who have sex with an infected person or who live in a household with an infected person
• Health care workers and others exposed to blood products and needlestick devices.
• People infected with HIV

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Other people at high risk for hepatitis B virus infection include:

• People who have multiple sex partners
• International travelers to countries with high rates of hepatitis B
• People who received a blood transfusion or received a blood clotting product prior to 1987, when better procedures were implemented to screen donors and blood products for the hepatitis B virus.

Hepatitis C

The hepatitis C virus is transmitted by contact with infected human blood.

• Most people are infected through sharing needles or other drug injection equipment.
• Less commonly, hepatitis C is spread through sexual contact (only rarely), sharing household items such as razors or toothbrushes, or through birth to a mother infected with hepatitis C.

People at high risk for hepatitis C include: