WHEREAS, there are an estimated 1,250,000 Americans chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus, of whom twenty to thirty per cent acquired their infection in childhood; and

WHEREAS, without vaccination, chronic infection of hepatitis B occurs in ninety per cent of infants infected at birth, thirty per cent of children infected at age one to five years, and six per cent of persons infected after age five; and

WHEREAS, without vaccination against hepatitis B, death from chronic liver disease occurs in fifteen to twenty-five per cent of chronically infected persons; and

WHEREAS, the symptoms of hepatitis B are usually jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and joint pain; and

WHEREAS, about thirty per cent of persons show no outward signs or symptoms of being infected with hepatitis B, and symptoms are less common in children than adults; and

WHEREAS, transmission of hepatitis B occurs when blood or body fluids from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not immune; and

WHEREAS, the hepatitis B virus is often spread through unprotected sexual intercourse, the sharing of infected needles in drug abuse, exposure to infected needles and sharps on the job, and transmission from an infected mother to a newborn during birth; and

WHEREAS, the best way to prevent infection with hepatitis B is through vaccination, which has been available since 1982, especially for those up to age eighteen; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is strongly urged to require the full immunization against the hepatitis B virus of all persons in the State who attend any institution of higher education; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Superintendent of Education, and the President of the University of Hawaii.

Report Title:

DOH; Hepatitis V immunization for All Up to Age Eighteen