Asian American Health

Hepatitis and Asian Americans

  • In 2021, non-Hispanic Asian Americans were 10% more likely to die from viral hepatitis than non-Hispanic whites.1
  • In 2022, non-Hispanic Asians/Pacific Islanders were newly diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B at more than 10 times the rate of non-Hispanic whites.2
  • Non-Hispanic Asian Americans were more than seven times more likely to die from hepatitis B than non-Hispanic whites in 2022.3

Viral Hepatitis

Death due to viral hepatitis, age-adjusted rates per 100,000 population, 2021
Non-Hispanic AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male1.31.01.3
Female0.60.61.0
Both Sexes0.90.81.1
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2024. Deaths: Final Data for 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 73, No. 8. Table 11.

Hepatitis A

Reported cases of hepatitis A, rate per 100,000 population, 2022
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific IslanderNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
0.50.60.8
Source: CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 1.2.

Hepatitis B

Reported cases of acute hepatitis B, rate per 100,000 population, 2022
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific IslanderNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
0.30.60.5
Source: CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 2.2.
Newly reported cases of chronic hepatitis B, rate per 100,000 population, 2022
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific IslanderNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander /
Non-Hispanic
White Ratio 
20.11.811.2
Source: CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 2.6.
Deaths with hepatitis B listed as a cause of death, rate per 100,000 population, 2022
Non-Hispanic AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
2.20.37.3
Source: CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 2.8.

Immunization (Hepatitis B)

Adults ages 19–49 who received at least one dose ever of the hepatitis B vaccine, percentage, 2021
Non-Hispanic AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
53.548.41.1
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2024. Vaccination Coverage among Adults in the United States, National Health Interview Survey, 2021. Table 4. Estimated proportion of adults aged ≥19 years who received hepatitis B vaccination, by age group, increased-risk status, and race and ethnicity.
Adolescents ages 13–17 who received at least three doses of the hepatitis B vaccine (HepB), percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
87.692.50.9
Source: CDC. TeenVaxView Interactive.
Children born in 2020 who received at least 3 doses of the hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine by age 24 months, percentage
Non-Hispanic AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
91.192.41.0
Source: CDC, 2023. Vaccination Coverage by Age 24 Months Among Children Born in 2019 and 2020—National Immunization Survey-Child, United States, 2020–2022. Supplementary Table 1.

Hepatitis C

Reported cases of acute hepatitis C, rate per 100,000 population, 2022
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific IslanderNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
0.31.50.2
Source: CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 3.2.
Newly reported cases of chronic hepatitis C, rate per 100,000 population, 2022
Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific IslanderNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
6.531.30.2
Source: CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 3.6.
Deaths with hepatitis C listed as a cause of death, rate per 100,000 population, 2022
Non-Hispanic AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
1.02.70.4
Source: CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 3.8.

1 CDC, 2024. Deaths: Final Data for 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 73, No. 8. Table 11. (Back to top)

2 CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 2.6. (Back to top)

3 CDC, 2024. Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Report — United States, 2022.  Table 2.8. (Back to top)