The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force has issued a draft recommendation stating that certain high-risk groups, including people with HIV, should be tested for hepatitis B virus (HBV), MedPage Today reports.

For the most part, the recommendation concerns Americans born in foreign nations with an HBV prevalence greater than 2 percent, as well as those living in the United States whose parents emigrated from a high-risk country and who did not receive the vaccination as a baby. In addition, the task force recommends hep B testing for men who have sex with men, injection drug users (IDUs), HIV-positive people, those who are immunocompromised and those who are receiving treatment for renal failure.

The recommendation is available for public comment until March 10, accessible through the task force’s website.

Today, most Americans receive the hep B vaccine at birth. An estimated 700,000 to 1.4 million people are living with chronic HBV in the United States.


To read the MedPage Today report, click here.

To visit the task force’s website, click here.