Reported risk behaviors or exposures among reported cases* of acute Hepatitis B virus infection — United States, 2021

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◀ Table 2.2
Table 2.4 ▶
Reported risk behaviors or exposures among reported cases* of acute Hepatitis B virus infection — United States, 2021
The number of reported acute hepatitis B cases by availability of specific risk behavior or exposure for 2021. The categories listed in the first column are injection drug use, multiple sexual partners, surgery, sexual contact, needlestick, men who have sex with men, household contact (nonsexual), dialysis patient, occupational, and transfusion. Column two displays the number of case reports for which a risk was identified. Column three lists the number of case reports for which no risk was identified. Column four indicates the number of case reports for which risk information was missing.
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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 1,215 acute hepatitis B cases were reported among males in 2021.
¶ Cases with more than one type of contact reported were categorized according to a hierarchy: (1) sexual contact; (2) household contact (nonsexual).

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 (30% of the 955 cases for which injection drug use information was available), followed by multiple sexual partners (20% of the 659 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 healthcare procedures and do not necessarily indicate these procedures were associated with hepatitis B virus transmission.

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