KEYWORDS:
Hepatitis, Adult, Immunization, Integration

BACKGROUND:
Florida’s Hepatitis Program raises awareness of hepatitis, develops education, coordinates direct intervention programs, tracks disease, and conducts research.

OBJECTIVE:
Protect adults in Florida from hepatitis by providing hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccine.

METHOD:
The Florida Hepatitis Program makes available, at no cost to counties, the hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines for use in adult populations at increased risk for hepatitis or its adverse consequences.

RESULT:
As of 9/30/02, 43 unfunded counties (not receiving hepatitis funding for personnel or supplies) are participating in the adult hepatitis immunization program, having used and coded 7,300 doses of hepatitis A vaccine and 15,483 doses of hepatitis B vaccine. For hepatitis A vaccine, there were 5,601 first doses and 1,699 second doses, a 30% series completion rate. For hepatitis B vaccine, there were 9,097 first doses, 4,306 (47 %) second doses, and 2,080 (48 % of those receiving dose 2) third doses, a 23 % series completion rate.
As of 9/30/02 in the six funded Florida counties, there were 9,546 doses of hepatitis A vaccine used and coded; 8,173 first doses and 1,373 second doses, a series completion rate of 17%. Of 12,294 doses of hepatitis B vaccine used and coded, there were 6,533 first doses, 3,634 second doses (56 %), and 2,127 third doses (59 % of those receiving dose 2), a series completion rate of 33 %.

CONCLUSION:
Public health providers, together with community partners, are willing and able to provide hepatitis immunization services to high-risk adults, even with no resources other than the vaccine. Availability of the vaccines, together with the counties’ freedom to integrate hepatitis vaccination services into other programmatic areas, are the key to maximizing very limited hepatitis program resources.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Participants will be able to describe Florida’s Adult Hepatitis Immunization Program and assess the program strengths and weaknesses.