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Jeffrey T. Kuvin
Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Ga

JAMA. 1990;264(9):1104-1105.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Hepatitis B is the most important chronic viremia in the world, bar none.¹ This global pandemic of hepatitis B contrasts with the 6 to 15 million cases of human immunodeficiency virus infection worldwide (Sci Am. 1988;258:82-89; and World Health Organization Global Programme of AIDS, unpublished data, 1989. We are currently witnessing a growing national problem regarding hepatitis B, with about 300 000 new infections each year.² Hepatitis B is a major cause of primary hepatocellular cancer, with almost 60 million of the world's chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus destined to die of the complications of this disease. Clearly, the infection rates of hepatitis B, which is transmitted through blood, sex, needles, and birth, are alarming and have a direct impact on the health of medical students currently receiving their education in the United States.

Numerous vaccination programs targeted at eliminating the spread of hepatitis . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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