From the Vault - Hepatitis B: Hepatiti, Take 2 (Ep 89)

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2025

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode originally aired on January 25th, 2022.

In light of the recent changes by RFK jr’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to eliminate the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine in the US, a decision which will result in preventable infections and deaths in this country every year, it seems timely to remind everyone of the global consequences of this incredibly prevalent pathogen.

This week, we’re dipping a toe back into the vast waters of hepatitis viruses, this time with a focus on hepatitis B. The hepatitis B virus, though second to be named, was first to be discovered, and effective vaccines and treatments have been available for decades. Yet the global prevalence of this virus remains staggering, with nearly 300 million people chronically infected and 1.5 million new infections annually. So what’s going on? In this episode, we weave our way through the complicated biology of this virus and its deadly potential, the strange history of its identification that shows that you don't have to be looking for something to find it, and the current status of this virus that underlines how safe, effective tools for disease prevention are only as good as our delivery infrastructure. We are also so excited to be joined by Dr. Su Wang, Medical Director for the Center for Asian Health & Viral Hepatitis Programs at the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center and outgoing President of the World Hepatitis Alliance.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is exactly right.
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0:43.3	My name is Sue Wong. I am a physician. I'm an MDMPH. I'm the medical director for the Center for Asian Health and
0:53.2	Viral Hepatitis programs at the Cooperman
0:55.8	Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey. And I'm also just coming off a two-year presidency
1:03.8	for the World Hepatitis Alliance, which is a nonprofit organization that represents
1:09.6	patients living with viral hepatitis. And our goal is to harness the
1:14.0	power of people living with viral hepatitis to achieve global elimination of viral hepatitis.
1:20.3	I was diagnosed with hepatitis B in college. In my first year of college, I went to donate blood,
1:27.4	right, to do a good thing,
1:29.8	donate blood. And shortly after, I got a big fat envelope sent to my dorm. And it said,
1:37.7	don't be worried. You don't have HIV, but you do have hepatitis B. And I was a pre-med student, but honestly, I didn't know
1:46.3	anything about Hep B. I called my sister confided in her about this new diagnosis. And she said,
1:52.8	oh, didn't you know, mom also has Hep B. And then I just, I just remember thinking, oh, who do I need
1:58.6	to tell? And when I went back home, I did go see a doctor and talk to her about it.
2:05.4	And I think she did blood work and basically said I was a carrier and there was nothing to worry about.
2:09.7	So I honestly pushed it to the, you know, back burner.
2:12.6	I didn't want to think about it.
2:13.9	So it didn't come up again until med school.
	...

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