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Article: Hepatitis B Vaccination for Injection Drug Users--Pierce County, Washington, 2000.
- Article from:
- MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
- Article date:
- May 18, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hepatitis B vaccination has been recommended for injection drug users (IDUs) since 1982, but vaccination coverage of IDUs remains low [7], and outbreaks of hepatitis B among IDUs continue to occur. An outbreak of hepatitis B primarily among IDUs in Pierce County, Washington, detected in April 2000, included 60 cases and resulted in three deaths among IDUs co-infected with hepatitis delta virus. A program to administer hepatitis B vaccine to IDUs was implemented to control the outbreak, and the number of cases identified decreased from 13 per month in May to two cases since November. This report describes a vaccination program during which IDUs accepted hepatitis B ...