“Viral Hepatitis in Minority America” 2. “The Perils of Needles on the Body” 3. A listing for updated hepatitis materials from the Immunization Action Coalition 4. A listing from the IAC for new Vaccination Information Statements 5. Announcements of relevant conferences

Current News is our focus for March and April. The Surveillance Summary for Acute Viral Hepatitis released in March indicates declining rates of all three common types of Hepatitis, A, B. and C. Underlying the good news is the continuing importance of making sure that adults, especially in segments of the population still living outside of the reach of most health care systems, are screened, offered B vaccination, educated about risks, and tested as necessary.

Two successful adult immunization programs are featured, one in Pennsylvania and one in New York. Each involves cooperation between state and local health departments and community clinics in order to provide immunizations, including Hepatitis A and B, to migrant seasonal farmworkers.

In our first bulletin, we offer an annotated list of key hepatitis websites. If any of these links are not working, you can copy and paste them directly into your search engine.