Students at risk from hepatitis B.

The American College Health Association (ACHA) urges that all college students be vaccinated against hepatitis B, a potentially deadly, sexually transmitted disease (STD) that has increased 77% among young adults during the past decade. College students are at high risk of contracting hepatitis B because STDs are common on college campuses and many students have more than one sexual partner within a six-month period.

Hepatitis B virus is 100 times more contagious than human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. It is spread through sexual activity and by contact with blood and other body fluids. The effects range from flu-like illness, nausea, and vomiting to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that 14 Americans die every day from hepatitis B and more than one-third of the 300,000 people infected are college-aged young adults.

MarJeanne Collins, chair of ACHA's Vaccine Preventable Diseases Task Force, points out that, "In order to stop the spread of this serious virus, it is crucial that college health care providers urge vaccination...

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