Table 2.3 – Acute – Risk & Exposure Data

Reported risk behaviors or exposures among reported cases^* of acute hepatitis B — United States, 2022

Source: CDC, National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.

* Reported confirmed cases. For the case definition, see Acute Hepatitis B.

† Reported cases may include more than one risk behavior/exposure. Case reports with at least one of the following risk behaviors/exposures reported 6 weeks to 6 months prior to symptom onset or documented seroconversion if asymptomatic: 1) injection drug use; 2) multiple sexual partners; 3) underwent surgery; 4) men who have sex with men; 5) sexual contact with suspected/confirmed hepatitis B case; 6) sustained a percutaneous injury; 7) household contact with suspected/confirmed hepatitis B case; 8) occupational exposure to blood; 9) dialysis; and 10) transfusion.

§ A total of 1,280 acute hepatitis B cases were reported among males in 2022.

¶ Cases with more than one type of contact reported were categorized according to a hierarchy: (1) sexual contact; (2) household contact (nonsexual).

Summary

Health departments might conduct investigations of newly reported acute hepatitis B cases to ascertain risk behaviors and exposures associated with infection. However, investigations might not be possible for all cases if patients are lost to follow-up or if health departments lack adequate resources for investigating all cases reported in their jurisdiction.

Among risk behaviors and exposures identified, injection drug use was most commonly reported (24% of the 976 cases for which injection drug use information was available), followed by multiple sexual partners (20% of the 654 cases for which information regarding multiple sexual partners was available).

Hepatitis B transmission associated with surgery, dialysis, or transfusion is extremely rare in the United States; thus, the reporting of these exposures might simply represent recent receipt of these health care procedures and do not necessarily indicate these procedures were associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission.