KEYWORDS:
Hepatitis B, API, Catch-up, Task Force, coverage, intervention

BACKGROUND:
The TF provides seed money/expertise for API catch-up projects.

OBJECTIVE(S):
To raise catch-up hepatitis B awareness and hepatitis B vaccination rates among APIs.

METHOD(S):
Projects were implemented in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington DC, and Washington State.

RESULT(S):
In a Boston Vietnamese practice (n=151 aged 7-17 years) 31% had a hepatitis B infection history; 82% of others were vaccinated; 40% of parents reported not hearing of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB); and 75% of parent-reported vaccinations were recorded in medical charts. Chicago public schools’ K-12 API HepB-3 rates (n=8980) were 70%, 52% in grades 9-12 (n=2013). A Chicago organization provided adult screening/vaccination for 6 API ethnicities to 1000 clients; a provider hospital-based intervention in 4 hospitals; a high school peer education program; and a VFC provider survey. Dallas, Houston and Washington DC Vietnamese parents reported HepB rates (n=1547 children aged 5-18 years in 2000) that increased since 1998 in both intervention communities (8.4 and 19.1 percentage points), but not control community. Knowledge of free HepB followed same pattern. Los Angeles AFIX for API children aged 15-18 years showed HepB-3 coverage in 3 practices (n=111) at 60%; a mobile clinic high school intervention (n=620 APIs) recruited 83; 72% completed series. San Diego HepB rates in refugee/immigrant children born 1984-1993 for 7 Laotians (43%) and 20 Cambodians (35%) were lower than in 14 Hmong (86%), 7 Vietnamese (100%) and 8 Chinese (100%). The San Francisco Jade Ribbon campaign featured PSAs with movie stars May Chin and Chow Yun Fat and HBsAg screening for 486 people; 12% were positive.

CONCLUSIONS(S):
Hepatitis awareness and hepatitis B vaccination rates in this target group are improving, but still low.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Describe the Task Force-related progress during the past year with catch-up hepatitis B vaccination among API children born before 1993.