19. Missed Opportunities for Hepatitis B Vaccination - STD Clinics of Corrections Health

We also know that there are places where people could have been vaccinated; back 10-12 years ago we said: "It is probably pretty hard to reach higher risk populations - they don't come in for health care, we may not be able to vaccinate them." But we have looked over the last decade at where people with different risk factors, the risk for hepatitis B being multiple heterosexual partners, men who have sex with men, or injection drug users - we see that actually these people have been cared for in venues where they could have been vaccinated. We have had recommendations for 20 years that say you should vaccinate here - this is in the STD clinics or in the corrections health setting. So, almost 50% of new hepatitis B infections could have been prevented because these people were seen in a place where they could have been vaccinated. So again, I think we have a better sense of how we can achieve some of our prevention targets.