Preventing hepatitis
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From U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Viral hepatitis kills up to 15,000 Americans a year, but there are vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and B, although there is no vaccine for the third type, hepatitis C.
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Ward says kids ought to get both vaccines - after one year for hepatitis A, and as infants beginning at birth for hepatitis B.
Ward says adults should get the hepatitis A vaccine if they are at higher risk for the disease, such as before traveling to areas where it's more common. And he says adults should get the hepatitis B vaccine:
``Vaccine coverage is very low still for adults with risks for hepatitis B, relative to children. And this is hampering our efforts to eliminate hepatitis B transmission in the United States.'' (10 seconds)
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.