Healio
Healio
May 30, 2014
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USPSTF: Screen high-risk individuals for HBV

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that high-risk individuals be screened for hepatitis B virus infection, according to its statement in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

These recommendations are an update of the 2004 recommendations for HBV screening in asymptomatic, nonpregnant people in the general population.

Individuals at high risk include the following:

  • People born in countries where the HBV prevalence is 2% or higher;
  • People born in the United States and not vaccinated as infants whose parents were from a high-prevalence country;
  • People with HIV;
  • Injection drug users;
  • Household contacts of people with HBV infection;
  • Men who have sex with men.

According to the report, approximately 700,000 to 2.2 million people in the United States have chronic HBV infection, and screening for infection could identify people for treatment and surveillance.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) found no direct evidence that screening asymptomatic, nonpregnant adolescents and adults for HBV has health benefits. However, it concluded that screening is beneficial for high-risk populations because of the accuracy of screening and the effectiveness of treatment.

The recommendations are similar to those made by the CDC, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Institute of Medicine.

Raymond T. Chung, MD 

Raymond T. Chung

In an accompanying editorial, Ruma Rajbhandari, MD, MPH, and HCV Next Editorial Board member Raymond T. Chung, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, commended the USPSTF recommendations and said they were long overdue.

“We laud the USPSTF for its 2014 recommendations that will enable the widespread adoption of screening for HBV infection in high-risk populations,” they wrote. “Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, most private insurers and all Medicaid programs must cover any preventive service with a grade A or B recommendation by the USPSTF. Given this powerful mandate, we believe that the USPSTF should make every effort to ensure that its recommendations do not lag behind the evidence.”

For more information:

LeFevre M. Ann Intern Med. 2014;doi:10.7326/M14-1018.

Rajbhandari R. Ann Intern Med. 2014;doi:10.7326/M14-1153.

Disclosure: See the report for a full list of financial disclosures.