The Bay Area has one of the largest Asian and Asian Pacific Islander
(API) populations in the entire country; together the two groups make up
almost 19 percent of Oakland’s population. This group is uniquely at
risk for hepatitis B, a disease that is sometimes known as the “silent
killer,” as an infected person can remain asymptomatic for long periods
of time, leaving many unknowingly infected. Nationwide, nearly 1 in 12
people of Asian and API descent are infected. But here in Oakland,
healthcare workers are drawing more attention to getting residents
screened for the disease and vaccinated against it, specifically among
the low-income and uninsured.
Hepatitis B, which is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), is
transmitted through blood and during childbirth. It ultimately leads to
cirrhosis or liver cancer, and nearly 600,000 people worldwide die
each year from the disease. In the United States, liver cancer
resulting from chronic hep B is the second cause of cancer death among
Asian men.
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