New Guideline Recommends HBV Testing for All US Adults

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated guideline, all adults should get tested for hepatitis B virus (HBV) at least once in their lifetime. The new guideline acts as a complement to CDC’s 2008 recommendation, which stressed administration of the HBV vaccine to all adults aged 19 to 59 years.

“Two-thirds of people in the U.S. who have the hepatitis B virus do not know they have it, raising the risk of developing incurable liver disease,” the report read. “Chronic HBV infection can lead to substantial morbidity and mortality.”

The report also includes risk-based testing recommendations to include adults not originally specified in earlier editions. These include “persons incarcerated or formerly incarcerated in a jail, prison, or other detention setting; persons with a history of sexually transmitted infections or multiple sex partners; and persons with a history of hepatitis C virus infection,” according to the report.

The CDC’s new guideline acts in the interest to eliminate HBV, encouraging doctors and clinicians to implement these new universal screenings in clinical practice.

—Priyam Vora

Reference:
Conners EE, Panagiotakopoulos L, Hofmeister MG, et al. Screening and testing for hepatitis B virus infection: CDC recommendations — United States, 2023. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2023;72(No. RR-1):1–25. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.rr7201a1