EPISODE · Jul 11, 2025 · 29 MIN
The Silent Killer — Chronic Hepatitis B Threatens the Health of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
from Civic · host Zhe Wu, Mel Baker
About the ‘Silent Killer’ SeriesThe San Francisco Public Press examined recent efforts to step up diagnosis, vaccination and treatment for hepatitis B. Chronic hepatitis B affects an estimated 305,000 people in California, with the vast majority of cases affecting people in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Deep racial and cultural disparities in illness caused by the hepatitis B virus have persisted for decades. A cure is in trials, but those inequities, along with federal funding cuts, could hamper its rollout. This reporting was supported with a California Health Equity Fellowship from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism and a grant from the Pulitzer Center.PART 1: Poorly Tracked Virus Is a ‘Silent Killer’ Affecting Asian Americans MostPART 2: Stigma, Insufficient Screening Keep Hepatitis B in the ShadowsPART 3: Researchers Seek Hepatitis B Cure as Trump Slashes Health Agency Funding------------Hep B Free
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What this episode covers
Chronic hepatitis B can lay dormant for years until the infection has caused life-threatening damage to the liver. We hear the stories of patients living with the disease, and about how a lack of resources and infection patterns put Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at greater risk. Researchers are working on a cure as activists and medical professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area create a unique model of care for the disease that is being copied around the U.S.
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The Silent Killer — Chronic Hepatitis B Threatens the Health of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
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