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Taking on Hepatitis B at UCSF Editor’s note: This story, which originally appeared in Synapse on January 24, had some accuracy problems. We are running a corrected version, and apologize for the errors: Hepatitis B is a worldwide killer, with upwards of 400 million people chronically infected. The insidious liver virus can cause cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. Hepatitis B is far more infectious than HIV, and is transmitted through exposure to infected bodily fluid, passage from mother to child during birth or unprotected sex. Despite these dire statistics and grim outcomes, hepatitis B infection is preventable with a simple three shot immunization sequence. Asian and Pacific Islanders suffer from disproportionately large numbers of infected individuals, with 1 in 10 Asian-Americans infected. Since without treatment a quarter of these individuals will die from complications due to hepatitis B, efforts have been focused on testing and immunizing the Asian-American population here in San Francisco, with Assemblywoman Fiona Ma spearheading the city-wide effort to “B Sure, B Tested, B Free.” UCSF’s own San Francisco Hepatitis B Collaborative has also taken aim at hepatitis B, educating San Francisco about this virus and providing a free clinic for testing and immunization. The collaborative hosts free clinics two Saturdays a month – one at the Chinatown Public Health Center in Chinatown, and another at UCSF’s Hepatitis B Screening and Vaccinations clinic near Mt. Zion Hospital – where walk-in patients can get initial blood draws to determine whether they have previous vaccination or immunity from exposure, if they are naïve (or susceptible to the disease), or if they are in fact infected with virus. Patients who are infected with the virus get information on health resources and regular care at the Chinatown Public Health Center, or are referred to their primary care physician for constant monitoring and regular care. The collaborative is also working to find ways to help patients find hepatologists and drug assistance programs if necessary. Those patients without immunization can be given their first immunization shot on the spot; they leave the clinic on the way to immunity, with a plan to return for the next two shots of the sequence. The Hepatitis B Collaborative is a clear UCSF success story. Started by students in 2004, the clinics began with health fair screenings at local venues such as community centers, churches, and other established institutions to provide critical hepatitis B testing and services to primarily the San Francisco Asian community. Without a stable home, according to Baotram Nguyen (MS2), “It was hard to communicate the screening results to patients and make sure that they seek the necessary medical care, specifically for individuals who need to get immunized and those who are chronic carriers of HBV” Critical to the mission of the clinics is the dedication of Dr. Cindy Lai, Dr. Joshua Adler, and Dr. Albert Yu, who provide essential faculty guidance for each of the clinics. The clinics are advertised heavily and appropriately: all pamphlets, flyers and posters are translated into the appropriate language for the area in which they are plastered. Currently, the languages include Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Chinese, with plans for more languages on the way. Newspapers and magazines have carried announcements for the clinics and students even staged a television advertisement on KTSF, a local San Francisco channel. Also impressive is how collaborative the student organization really is. The collaborative is both a model of inter-school cooperation – with students from the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing, even Berkeley undergraduates are heavily involved with the clinic – and with the city as a whole – the clinics partner with local community and interface with the citywide initiative to eradicate hepatitis B. All signs point to success for UCSF’s recent Hepatitis B Clinic startup. With more than eighty patients at the last Saturday clinic, it is clear that while hepatitis B is a virulent, destructive disease, UCSF students – and San Francisco as a whole – are not going to let the disease run rampant without a fight. Clinic Times and Locations: Bayanihan Community Center
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