Researchers recommend more widespread hepatitis B testing

Current U.S. guidelines call for universal hepatitis B testing in areas of the country that have a prevalence of the disease that exceeds 2 percent of the population. However, a recent study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases indicates that increased testing among people who live in low-risk communities may be more cost effective than providing treatments for individuals who experience serious health complications due to progressed cases of hepatitis B.

"The recent Institute of Medicine report on hepatitis and liver cancer notes that up to 2 million Americans are chronically infected with hepatitis B, although 75 percent of people or more may not know their status and are diagnosed with the disease late," said lead researcher Mark Eckman.

He explained that untreated infections may lead to cirrhosis, liver failure or cancer.

By using a mathematical framework, the scientists found that universal screening among populations with hepatitis B prevalence as low as 0.3 percent would be cost effective, especially when infected individuals were treated with a low-cost, high-resistance nucleoside or nucleotide medication.