IDSA: More Older Hepatitis B Patients Report Multiple Sex Partners

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 10 -- Older patients make up a growing proportion of those infected with hepatitis B, and more of them report multiple sex partners as a risk factor, an investigator from the CDC said here.

From 1995 through 2005, the proportion of HBV patients who are 50 and older increased from 13.5% to 21%, a 56% increase, Kathleen Gallagher, D.Sc., reported at the Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting.

Among those newly diagnosed older patients, the proportion citing two or more recent sex partners increased from 10% to 20% (P

Nonetheless, she added, the data clearly document an increase in the proportion of older HBV-positive patients and in the proportion of older patients reporting multiple sex partners as a risk factor.