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Hep B Discrimination – Part Deux

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Francis Deng is a medical student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is a graduate of Harvard University, Bachelor of Arts (AB), magna cum laude, Human Development and Regenerative Biology. Mr. Deng was an instrumental leader of Team HBV – President at Harvard, and the co-chair of the National Advisory Board, Team HBV Collegiate.

I wrote previously about discrimination against health care workers and trainees who have chronic hepatitis B on KevinMD.com.  Since that time, major advances have happened. News surfaced that since 2011, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has investigated 4 cases of Asian/Pacific Islander students who were infected and were not allowed to enroll in specific medical or dental schools, both private and public, that they were initially accepted to. Another case is still pending investigations from the Department of Health and Human Services Civil Rights Division.

In March 2013, the DOJ released a settlement noting that chronic hepatitis B infection is considered a disability, so discrimination, under specific circumstances, is prohibited under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This was groundbreaking in being the first ADA settlement ever reached on behalf of hepatitis B carriers. If you or someone you know has experienced HBV-related discrimination in the community, school, or the workplace, you are encouraged to file ADA complaints to the DOJ.

You might be thinking, I’ve never heard of such a thing, there must be so few cases where denial of admission or other discrimination has occurred based on hepatitis B status; or I know my school has students with hep B, so this really isn’t an important issue.

Here’s why the issue is important. Discrimination issues are only ever important to minority groups; I don’t mean racial minorities, I mean people who are not the majority in some way. It happens to people who don’t have a political voice or were not involved with policy making and are helpless in the face of institutional policies. When there are not explicit and systematic policies to protect such individuals, they are at the mercy of individuals who make judgments on behalf of the institution. In this situation, school administrators may be reasonable, allow students with hep B to matriculate, ensure proper precautions are made with respect to patient care, and give non-coercive guidance to students regarding career decisions. I know several schools where this is the case. Or they may be unreasonable and ignorant (willfully or unwillfully) of the CDC recommendations regarding HBV-infected health care workers. They may bar such infected students to matriculate, bar them from clinical activities even when it’s reasonably safe (i.e. they are not highly viremic or it’s a minimally invasive activity), or coerce them into going into specialties that do not involve direct patient care. Their lives are derailed and redirected needlessly.

Here’s who should care.

Pre-health students, especially 1st and 1.5 generation API Americans: If you were born outside of the US or your parents were born outside the US, particularly in a highly endemic region such as Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe, you should know that you are at greater risk for having chronic hepatitis B infection. You may have been vaccinated as a requirement of entering school, and you may feel in excellent health, but you probably will have never been screened for hepatitis B infection or antibodies until you enter a healthcare environment. In these cases investigated by the DOJ, 3 out of 4 students were previously vaccinated but did not discover their infection until entering medical/dental training. This is because maternal screening and newborn vaccination policies have not been universally applied until recently, and screening children is not standard. There are always holes in the health care system where people fall through, whether in the US or (especially) abroad. Further, HBV immunization at birth, while effective, is not guaranteed to protect against infection. Get tested.

Health students: If you know of someone who has been denied enrollment based on HBV infection or experienced other types of discrimination in any kind of arena (childcare, employment, etc.), get in contact with hep B advocates. They can connect you to private or pro bono attorneys that will help you file a complaint with the DOJ. This can be confidential (name not public) and doesn’t even have to be filed by the individual. Nadine Shiroma, a community civil rights advocate, gave me most of the information I used to write this blog post. Joan Block, co-founder and executive director of the Hepatitis B Foundation, is another key resource.

School administrators: Protect your institution by implementing clear policies regarding HBV that are compliant with the ADA, and consistent with CDC recommendations for that matter. Help prospective students by making these policies public.

Student leaders: If you’re in APAMSA, serve on school policy committees, you can push your schools to make public and make clear their policies regarding hepatitis B infected students and staff involved in health care.

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The Hepatitis B Foundation Mourns the Loss of Dr. R. Palmer Beasley

Dr. Palmer Beasley (center), with his wife Dr. Lu-Yu Hwang at his side, received the HBF's Distinguished Scientific Award from Dr. Timothy Block (left) and Nobel Laureate Dr. Baruch Blumberg, HBF co-founder (far right) in 2010.

The Hepatitis B Foundation mourns the loss of a great hepatitis B champion. Dr. R. Palmer Beasley. The Hepatitis B Foundation was proud to have honored Dr. Beasley with the Distinguished Scientist Award 2010, at HBF’s annual Crystal Ball. Dr. Beasley’s groundbreaking research discoveries in Taiwan included identifying mother-to-infant hepatitis B transmission, and the fatal link between hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer). Additionally, Dr. Beasley’s initiation of a national hepatitis B immunization program has protected a generation of people in Taiwan against hepatitis B and liver cancer.

Dr. Timothy Block, President and Co-Founder of the Hepatitis B Foundation wrote: “Our cause has lost another great one with the passing of Palmer Beasley. He was passionate and visionary in working to advance hepatitis B awareness and research. His work with the HBV vaccine, particularly in Taiwan, is considered definitive and as having set the stage for saving millions of people. The HBF recognized him as our honoree in 2010, and for that, I am glad.”

The Washington Post obituary of Dr. Beasley, dated August 5th, presented a wonderful review of some of Dr. Beasley’s many accomplishments and touches on his unique personality. Please see the reprint below –

Adventurous, meticulous and intensely curious about the world and its people, Dr. R. Palmer Beasley, epidemiologist and infectious-disease expert, used those skills to discover the link between the hepatitis B virus and liver cancer — proof that a virus could cause a human cancer, and a finding that ultimately led to vaccinations that saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Dr. Beasley, a former University of Washington faculty member and dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health, died Aug. 25 at his home in Houston. He was 76. His death, from pancreatic cancer, was confirmed by his wife Lu-Yu Hwang.

Measles, plague, HIV — they all intrigued Dr. Beasley, who had decided as a student at Harvard Medical School that he wanted to be an epidemiologist, studying infectious diseases. In the early 1970s, as a fellow at what later became the University of Washington School of Public Health, he jumped at the chance to go to Taiwan to research rubella (German measles). There, he became determined to delve into the mysteries of hepatitis B, which he considered the least understood unconquered virus of the time.

“He took an approach like Albert Schweitzer,” said Herbert DuPont, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas. “He lived in the field, he worked with patients, with the people. He didn’t go back to Seattle and sit in an office at the University of Washington and contact people in Taiwan.”

J. Thomas Grayston, then Dr. Beasley’s supervisor at the University of Washington, recalls a bit of friction in that regard. “We talked to him about coming back, and he wasn’t going to do that,” he said.

Dr. Beasley arranged independent funding for his research project, married a co-researcher and settled down in Taiwan, where he would spend the next 14 years. But he kept his affiliation with the University of Washington, which lasted nearly two decades.

With exacting attention to detail, Dr. Beasley and his colleagues designed long-term studies that would follow more than 22,000 Taiwanese government workers for decades, in the process proving that the hepatitis B virus is a main cause of liver cancer — at the time a controversial theory — and that childbirth can transmit the virus from a mother to her baby, who becomes a carrier and much more likely to develop liver cancer.

Dr. Beasley found that a shot of immune globulin at birth protected babies; later, his work helped push the World Health Organization to include the hepatitis B vaccine in routine vaccination programs.

For his work, Dr. Beasley was awarded the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine, the Charles S. Mott Prize, the Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Achievement and the 2010 Distinguished Scientist Award by the Hepatitis B Foundation.

“There are at least a million people alive today who otherwise would not be here if not for Dr. Beasley’s pioneering research in hepatitis B,” Nobel laureate Baruch Blumberg said at the award ceremony, according to the foundation.

Robert Palmer Beasley was born in Glendale, Calif. He received a degree in philosophy from Dartmouth College in 1958, a medical degree from Harvard University in 1962 and a master’s degree in preventive medicine from the University of Washington in 1969.

Early in his career, he worked as an epidemic investigator for what is now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta from 1963 to 1965, including an assignment to find a sample of plague in Bolivia.

Riding in trucks and on burros, he and his colleague James Gale tracked down plague in a tiny village on the east side of the Andes, said Gale, now an emeritus professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington. Because the disease had killed nearly all those in the village, they had to exhume a body, cut off a finger and get it back to the capital city, where the material containing the plague was injected into a guinea pig, which promptly died.

Assured that the pathogen was still viable, the two doctors packed it up in dry ice for shipment to a secure lab in Maryland.

From 1987 to 2005, Dr. Beasley was dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health.

His first marriage, to Sonia Garon, ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 32 years, Dr. Lu-Yu Hwang of Houston, an epidemiologist who collaborated with him on his research; two children from his first marriage, Monica Payson of Seattle and Fletcher Beasley of Los Angeles; a daughter from his second marriage, Bernice Hwang Beasley of Seattle; a brother; and two grandchildren.

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World Hepatitis Day 2012 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia

WHD 2012 Cairns: Hep Day Out friends - Yvonne, Rhondda, Murph & Allana

A personal reflection on WHD events from Guest Blogger Yvonne Drazic

WHD was again promoted and celebrated in style in Cairns with lots of dedicated people making it a great success. The key organizers were Rhondda, the Viral Hepatitis Health Practitioner from the Cairns Sexual Health Service, and Alanna and Julie from the Queensland Injectors’ Health Network (QuIHN). At present, the bulk of hepatitis B health promotion and patient support is done through these organizations as part of hepatitis C and HIV services because sufficient separate government funding for hepatitis B is not yet forthcoming.

Last year, Rhondda organized a fabulous free lecture about hepatitis B which, while aimed at health care professionals and medical staff, was open to the public and especially to people affected by or living with hepatitis B. The speaker was Dr. Benjamin Cowie, an infectious diseases physician from Melbourne with a special interest in hepatitis B. His passionate and compelling presentation evoked great feedback from the audience, many stating it was a real eye-opener. This year’s lecture was presented by Dr. Joshua Davis who spoke equally engaging about his efforts to address hepatitis B in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The talk attracted an audience of more than 100 people. As an add-on to the lecture, Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander health workers could move on to an event/workshop called Yarnin up HepB where they were able to discuss anything hepB – and get expert advice – from Dr. Davis. This was very well received although many participants were quite disturbed about the statistics of hep B in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This year the open day at Cairns Sexual Health Service was called “Hep Day Out”. It was designed to be fun with funky, colourful posters (created by the talented Murph) and a music jam session. Like last year, the day featured tours of the premises with screening opportunities, as well as the famous QuIHN van offering information, a scrumptious lunch and fun activities. Every visitor who took the tour and completed a short quiz received a cool t-shirt courtesy of Hepatitis Queensland (see photos) and a health pack. In addition, the resident psychologist was on site for people who wanted a chat and I was available for brain-picking for everyone who wanted to know more about hepatitis B. Invitations were distributed to migrant services and communities but unfortunately did not attract any visitors from these groups. Possibly the time was unsuitable due to work commitments but it could also be due to fear of stigmatization which may be increased in these populations. I am currently conducting research to explore barriers and other issues that may keep people from engaging in health-protective actions such as screening and monitoring. It will also help to find more effective ways of engaging with migrant communities and get a better turnout for next year’s WHD.

Overall, plenty of awareness was raised, many people were educated about viral hepatitis, and a fun time was had by all.

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Raising awareness and Enabling Protective Action in an Affected Community in Australia: A work in progress…

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Welcome Guest Blogger Yvonne Drazic. She is a PhD candidate at James Cook University in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. Her research focus is on reducing the rate of undiagnosed and untreated chronic hepatitis B, in migrant communities from endemic areas, particularly the local Hmong community. Yvonne lives with chronic hepatitis B, and feels privileged to be one of the less than 3% of hepatitis B cases treated in Australia. She gives back in so many ways, and is also a list parent on the HB-List, an online patient forum. 

As a research student from tropical Far North Queensland in Australia, I am grateful that today’s technology allows me to be part of the global hepatitis B community. My goal is to help our local Hmong community of about 700 people to prevent future repercussions of undetected and untreated chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Having CHB myself, I was amazed to learn how many people miss out on vital medical care because they are unaware of their infection, or of its potential consequences. At present, the incidence of hepatitis B-related liver cancer is rising in Australia because undiagnosed CHB is doing much more harm than newly acquired infections in adults. The majority of affected people in Australia are migrants from endemic areas and Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people who were mostly infected at birth or in early childhood. Yet, less than 3% of cases are currently receiving antiviral therapy (Carville & Cowie, 2012).

I chose to focus on the Hmong community because studies in the U.S. show a particularly high CHB prevalence (~15%) in this population (Kowdley, Wang, Welch, Roberts, & Brosgart, 2011). And sure enough, when talking to members of the community, I heard sad stories of family members getting sick or dying from liver disease. Hepatitis B as a threat to public health has long been neglected in Australia, compared to the attention given to HIV and hepatitis C. However, based on a National Hepatitis B Needs assessment (Wallace, McNally, & Richmond, 2008) and other reports that showed an urgent need for a co-ordinated public health response, the first National Hepatitis B Strategy was finally released in 2010. The strategy highlights priority action areas such as raising awareness in patients and doctors, improving screening and diagnosis practices, and removing barriers in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations.

In Australia, pregnant women are routinely screened for hepatitis B. However, research suggests that many who test positive during pregnancy do not receive adequate follow-up care (Guirgis, Zekry, Yan, Bu, & Lee, 2009). In addition, recent studies indicate that CHB awareness is still low in Australian general practitioners (GPs), and that many patients are not managed according to guidelines (Dev, Nguyen, Munafo, Hardie, & Iacono, 2011; Guirgis, Yan, Bu, & Zekry, 2011). Therefore, in order to achieve improvements in early detection and timely referral for treatment, increasing GP involvement is a priority.

My project comprises (1) an assessment of knowledge, current practice, awareness of resources and educational preferences of local GPs; (2) assessments (pre- and post) and an appropriate intervention in the Hmong community (all based on behavioural theory); and (3) an assessment of pregnant women and new mothers. At the time of writing, data collection from GPs is under way.

Community engagement is, of course, an ongoing process. The project has the support of a community leader who is providing invaluable information about what may and may not work in his community. Initial information about the project was recently distributed. Building trust and showing that my motives are genuine takes time and it is important to let things develop instead of pushing ahead too fast. The fact that I have CHB myself may help to convey the message that it is okay and even necessary to talk about hepatitis B. Normalization assists in the removal of stigma.

More of my work to be shared in another blog. A big thank you to the special people who have been inspiring and encouraging me to do this work and keep offering tremendous, ongoing support.

Yvonne

References:

Carville, K. S., & Cowie, B. C. (2012). Recognising the role of infection: preventing liver cancer in special populations. Cancer Forum, 36(1), 21-24.

Dev, A., Nguyen, J., Munafo, L., Hardie, E., & Iacono, L. (2011). Chronic hepatitis B: A clinical audit of GP management. Australian Family Physician, 40(7), 533-537.

Guirgis, M., Yan, K., Bu, Y. M., & Zekry, A. (2011). A study into general practitioners’ knowledge and management of viral hepatitis in the migrant population. Internal Medicine Journal, Accepted article. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2011.02440.x

Guirgis, M., Zekry, A., Yan, K., Bu, Y. M., & Lee, A. (2009). Chronic hepatitis B infection in an Australian antenatal population: Seroprevalence and opportunities for better outcomes. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 24(6), 998-1001. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2009.05841.x

Kowdley, K., Wang, C., Welch, S., Roberts, H., & Brosgart, C. (2011). Prevalence of chronic hepatitis B among foreign-born persons living in the United States by country of origin. Hepatology, Accepted preprint.

Wallace, J., McNally, S., & Richmond, J. (2008). National hepatitis B needs assessment. Melbourne: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health, and Society, La Trobe University.

 

 

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May is Hepatitis Awareness Month

May is Hepatitis Awareness Month! What are you or your organization doing to help educate and raise HBV awareness in your community? Will you be holding viral hepatitis screening events, or other events?

The CDC has launched the “Know More Hepatitis Campaign”, which is an educational initiative striving to educate the public about viral hepatitis and encourage screening. They have designated May 19th as the first Hepatitis Testing Day. Organizations around the country will be providing viral hepatitis screening. Many will be focusing on at-risk populations. This is a great opportunity to get tested to be sure of your HBV or HCV status. Talk to the members of the organizations running the screening to learn more about these diseases, and what you can do to get involved.  Don’t forget to register your viral hepatitis screening event with the CDC, or check out screening events in your area.

The Hepatitis B Foundation and Hep B United Philadelphia have a couple of big activities planned for Hepatitis Awareness Month. On Friday, May 18th, we will be having our “B A Hero” Photo Flash mob event in Love Park in downtown Philadelphia. Everyone is excited about the event.  Some of the students have created a Hep B Rap video to get everyone psyched for the event! We also have some fabulous guests slated to make an appearance. If you’re downtown that day be sure to join us! If you’re nowhere near Philly, consider organizing your own Flash Mob! Its lots of fun and a great opportunity to raise HBV awareness with a splash!

Hep B United Philadelphia will also be offering free HBV screening at the Asian Festival on Saturday, May 19th from 12pm-3pm at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Asian Pacific Heritage Festival, at Franklin Square Park in Philly.  Folks that are screened will get a free Hepatitis B tote bag and will be entered into a raffle to win a free Kindle! Counseling will be available in Chinese, English and Korean. Educational literature will be available in Chinese Vietnamese, Korean, Lao, Khmer, and Indonesian. Look for Hep B United Philly’s tent in the health fair section, along with blood pressure, glucose and vision screening. It’s going to be a great event!

The Hepatitis B Foundation will be hosting the B Informed Parent Conference in downtown Philadelphia on Saturday, May 19th. This will be an incredible opportunity for parents of kids with hepatitis B to meet with leading pediatric experts in the field that address both medical issues and the personal challenges of parenting a child with hepatitis B. It is also a wonderful opportunity for parents to meet face-to-face with other families facing similar challenges.  Be sure to check out the detailed program agenda, and if you are a family with a child living with HBV, or know of a family living with HBV, please encourage them to attend this unique event. Pre-registration is required, though there is no charge for the event. And if that’s not enough, here are 10 reasons you need to get yourself to Philly for this event…

So let us know what you are up to for Hepatitis Awareness Month!  If you’re not already part of an organization, lend a hand and volunteer at a screening in your community. If you speak another language, volunteer your translation services, or hand out pamphlets. Make a commitment to start your own organization, or join an organization. Don’t feel like getting out there? Become an at-home HBV advocate and use social media channels such as twitter or Facebook and support viral hepatitis efforts right from home, or your phone. The opportunities are endless!

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Purchase a Raffle ticket to Benefit the Hepatitis B Foundation and WIN a 7-Day Cruise for Two!

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Raffle to Benefit the Hepatitis B Foundation

Friday, April 27th at 6:30 pm the Hepatitis B Foundation  is hosting it’s signature fund raising event of the year at the PineCrest Country Club in Landsdale, Pennsylvania. It will be a wonderful evening filled with fine dining, dancing, and a silent and live auction. On that evening HBF is proud to honor Dr. Howard Koh, the Assistant Secretary for the United Sates Health and Human Services (HHS), with the inaugural Baruch S. Blumberg Prize for his leadership in creating the first HHS Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis.

We know not everyone can make it to Landsdale on the evening of April 27th, but we do hope you will show your support and purchase a raffle ticket to benefit the Hepatitis B Foundation and possibly WIN a 7 day, 5-star cruise for 2! The good news is that you do not need to be present to win. Check out the details about the cruise….

7 DAY CRUISE FOR TWO!!

Holland America Line Logo

Choice of Destination:

Alaska, the Caribbean, Mexico

or Canada/New England

$100 per Raffle Ticket

Valued up to $3,300!!

Drawing at CRYSTAL BALL, April 27, 2012

(Winner does not need to be present)

 

 

When you step aboard one of the five-star ships of Holland America Line, you will experience a voyage unlike any other. You can choose any cruise for two (same stateroom) up to seven days in length (based on minimum ocean view stateroom) to Alaska, the Caribbean, Mexico or Canada/New England.

Your journey will include extraordinary dining, spacious staterooms, elegant surroundings and days filled with new discoveries and gracious pampering by an award-wining crew. You can choose to partake in as many – or as few – activities as you wish, from the renowned Greenhouse Spa and Salon, to cooking demonstrations and wine tasting in the Culinary Arts Center, and much more. Or simply relax and enjoy the spectacular scenery from the beautiful wrap-around teak deck.

The certificate has no expiration date. The certificate may be applied to other cabin categories or cruise trades at an additional cost. This cruise! certificate is valued up to $3,300!

Travel to and from arrival ports, taxes, onboard charges, shore excursions and hotel services are not included. Click here for important cruise information.

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Gateway to Care: A Hepatitis B Public Health Program in Haimen City, China

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The Hepatitis B Foundation launched its Gateway to Care public health program on April 8, 2011. The program has been up and running ever since.  An introduction to the program, followed by a quarterly update by Dr. Gang Chen, seems important, so others are aware of this successful program.  The Haimen City project is led by Gang Chen, MD, PhD, and Director of China Programs for HBF. Dr. Chen was born in Haimen City and received his training from the Shanghai Medical School approximately 60 miles from Haimen City, in Shanghai. For the past 15 years, Dr. Chen has been traveling bi-annually to continue data collection for the Haimen City cohort study. He was the perfect candidate to lead the Gateway to Care public health campaign.

The Gateway to Care campaign, Haimen City, was made possible by a $400,000 educational grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. Haimen City was selected because it has one of the highest HBV and liver cancer rates in China. Over 10% of the population are hepatitis B carriers.

The goal of the Gateway to Care campaign is to educate and help raise HBV and liver cancer awareness among its one million residents.  The project has three primary goals focusing on raising public awareness, providing target group education and providing hepatitis B management for pregnant women. Ultimately the main goal of the campaign is to create a model program that can readily be adapted and duplicated in other cities throughout China, where the hepatitis B and liver cancer burden is also enormous.

Public health programs like the Haimen City, Gateway to Care campaign must be carefully created based on the culture and the population and the language. China is a large, diverse country. Materials must be developed that address the needs of the community and will be accepted. It’s not a speedy process, but one that must be slowly integrated into the fabric of the community. The goals of the program were emphasized through community events, giveaways, public displays, public screenings, and the education of local doctors, who are the community’s front line physicians. Because HBV is very effectively transmitted vertically from HBV infected mom to her baby at birth, an HBV management program was also put into place specifically for pregnant women, which also includes both a retrospective and a prospective study.

A project logo was created emphasizing the key message and creating a brand. Standard playing cards with 15 key messages pertaining to HBV transmission, prevention, testing and treatment were also printed on the cards making them both functional and educational. Pamphlets and billboards with more detailed information were created and displayed or distributed at community events along with the cards.  A bi-monthly health education publication featured important knowledge about hepatitis B was delivered to every household, or a total of 280,000 households, reaching the one million residents of the city. These are very effective modes of outreach in the Haimen City community.

Stay tuned for the next update from Dr. Chen on more detailed specifics of the Gateway to Care, public awareness part of the public health campaign.

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Help Us Choose the Round 2 Winner of the “B A Hero” PSA Video Contest!

Round 2 of the “B A Hero” PSA Video Contest is over and there are two great PSA videos that have been created! View and cast your vote for your favorite. Both videos are awesome! Vote once, or better yet, vote once per day through March 30th!

We can’t post the videos directly, or you won’t be able to vote, so just click here, and you will be directed to the application that will allow you to view the videos and choose your favorite! Make sure you’re logged into your facebook account, and don’t forget to invite your friends!

Now that you know how cool the videos are, how about joining the fun and raising HBV awareness by creating your own “B A Hero” PSA video?  Round 3 is open and will close on April 13th! Join the fun. Here’s how…

 

 

 

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Create, Submit, & Win The B A Hero PSA Video Contest! Help Raise HBV Awareness!

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Hep B Free Philadelphia “B A Hero” PSA Video Contest 2012

Channel your creativity and skills for a good cause and win prizes!

Raise HBV awareness!

 

Hep B Free Philadelphia and Hepatitis B Foundation invite you to create a 30-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) to raise awareness about hepatitis B. Finalists will receive prize money and the winner’s PSA will be shown at Hep B Free Philadelphia’s annual media event as well as ** drum rolls** the 2012 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival! Thousands will get to see your creative brainchild!

Hepatitis B is a serious infection that affects about 2 million people in the United States. About 1 in 10 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are chronically infected—with African immigrants approaching a similar ratio as well. About 1 in 4 of the chronically infected individuals will die of liver cancer or cirrhosis.

Many infected individuals are not aware of their status because hepatitis B doesn’t usually produce symptoms for decades, and when the symptoms start showing it is often too late for treatment—it is a silent killer!

Help us raise awareness by entering the “B A Hero” PSA Video Contest and submitting a PSA made by you! Videos should highlight hepatitis B and include the “B A Hero” theme.

5 Easy Steps:

1. Make a 30-second video to raise awareness and B a hero
2. Check the fact sheet below to make sure all your HBV information is correct
3. Submit the PSA through Facebook
4. Get all your friends to vote for your PSA
5. Win prizes and B famous!

Submission deadlines:

Round 1 – February 17

Round 2 – March 16

Round 3 – April 13

Register NOW at Hep B Free Philadelphia’s Facebook Page!!

Submissions can also be emailed toPSAContest@hepb.org.

For the official contest guidelines, please click here

For the hepatitis B fact sheet, please click here

Questions? Please contact Hep B Free Philadelphia program manager Daniel Chen at Daniel.chen@hepb.org

Three finalists will win $100 each!

One Grand Prize winner will win an additional $150
AND have their video shown at the 2012 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival!

B a hero! Make a PSA Video and raise HBV awareness!

There are some excellent HBV PSA videos on YouTube. Here’s an example of a great one, but feel free to visit Hep B Free Philadelphia’s Facebook Page and scroll down for more examples!

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Adopting a Special-Needs Child with Hepatitis B

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William - Waiting child with HBV. Contact advocacy@anorphanswish.org for more information.

If you are considering the adoption of a special needs child, I would encourage you to consider adopting a child with Hepatitis B. Children with HBV are available for adoption around the globe. Remember that one third of the world’s population has been infected with HBV.  The transmission of HBV from mother to child during delivery process is very common in many parts of the world. HBV can be prevented in 95% of cases for those that are vaccinated and receive HBIG within 12 hours of birth, with the other two shots of the series to follow, but unfortunately these options are not available to many infants around the globe.  Because HBV is a silent infection, many moms are not even aware they have HBV, and few are screened and identified during pregnancy.

Adopting a child with HBV is very manageable. However, it is good to get educated before you move forward.  Kids with HBV may require treatment when they return home, although most do not. This will not be determined until your child arrives home and has a thorough work-up with a liver specialist.  Please don’t ask for additional testing of your child, as the additional needle sticks raise their risks for infectious disease.

Most children do not have symptoms with their HBV.  They appear perfectly healthy, and they are healthy with the exception of having the HBV virus circulating in them.  They sleep, eat and cry, just like any other baby, and they run, play, captivate and steal the hearts of their parents just like any other child.

Quite often treatment is not necessary for a child with HBV. They have high viral loads, which do make them infectious, but the good news is that the HBV vaccine is a requirement in nearly all states, and licensed day-care facilities. These elevated numbers sometimes worry parents, but the kids are just fine and it is merely a stage of the virus, which tends to occur children infected at birth or early on.  Kids rarely have symptoms and their liver enzymes and blood work are typically within range.   Some children seroconvert, or move into a quiescent, less infectious state on their own with no treatment, while others continue on in this steady state without any intervention other than bi-annual or annual lab work and a visit to a pediatric liver specialist.

However, some children do require treatment when they are young. This is not as common, and is determined by blood work that shows that the immune system is trying to attack the virus in the liver cells. This may sound frightening, but once again, the kids are rarely symptomatic.  Doctors may choose to treat a child in order to see if they can get the child to seroconvert, or move to a more benign stage of the virus’ lifecycle.  For young children, this may involve an immune modulator such as interferon or peginterferon , or in older children, or different circumstance, an oral antiviral.  As a parent, I have been through both, so I can tell you that the protocol is manageable.  There are pros and cons to each treatment protocol which you will want to discuss in detail with your pediatric liver specialist should treatment be recommended.

Believe it or not, one of the tougher decisions is figuring out how you want to handle your child’s personal information.  Often there is a stigma associated with HBV which is primarily borne of ignorance and lack of HBV awareness.   I admit that I had very little understanding of the virus when we came home with our daughter!   The tough part is deciding how you want to handle this information.  It’s a family decision, and until you decide how you want to treat it as a family, you are better keeping this information private.  I would highly recommend speaking with other parents that have experience, both good and bad, with the disclosure of their child’s HBV status.  There is a wonderful, on-line support group you might like to join to discuss the adoption of a child with HBV.

Living day to day with a child with HBV is simple. The biggest transition is learning to deal with preventive measures or general standard precautions, which we should all be following anyway!  All this really entails is making sure that all blood and body fluid spills and contacts are prevented by using a barrier between the bleeding person and you.  Blood spills are cleaned with a fresh, diluted bleach solution.  Should an exposure occur, prophylaxis should be given.  Here’s the thing… we should be doing this with EVERYONE and not just a known entity! It keeps everyone in your family infection free from all sorts of things!

How do you prepare to bring a child with HBV into your home?  It’s simple.  If everyone in your home has not been vaccinated against HBV and had titres checked, then they should do so.  The HBV vaccine is a safe and effective three shot series.  Four to six weeks following the last shot of the three shot series, you can ask that your doctor run quantitative anti-HBs to be sure that your titres are above 10.  If you have built adequate immunity to the virus through vaccination then you and your loved ones will be HBV free for life.  With a safe and effective vaccine, like the HBV vaccine, this is the way it should be!

So when you are considering adopting a special needs child, please consider a child with HBV. Even if you do not choose HBV as a special need, be sure to have your adopted child screened for hepatitis B. HBV is endemic in so many portions of the world. This is how we discovered our daughter’s infection. Had she not been screened, we would have likely never known her HBV status, and although this might not affect you on a daily basis, it is something that needs to be monitored by a pediatric liver specialist. In our case, our daughter needed treatment, but because there were no symptoms, I am grateful we had her screened upon her arrival home.

No matter where your children are grown – within your womb or another, having children truly is a leap of faith.  Keep an open mind. Adoption is a wonderful way to grow your family and choosing to adopt a special needs child with HBV is a great addition to your family.

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute