Top 10 States with Highest Cases of Hepatitis for 2009

August 21, 2010 02:51 AM EDT

Known as the inflammation of the liver, hepatitis is classified into three groups namely hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. It is usually manifested by the existence of inflammatory cells specifically in the liver. There are instances when hepatitis can be acute or chronic as well. It can show symptoms common to all viral infections including loss of appetite and dark urine among others.

In the US, there are a total of 2,587 cases reported for 2009. This is broken down into 817 cases of hepatitis A, 1,449 cases of hepatitis B and 321 cases of hepatitis C. The top 10 states affected by the disorder are as follows:

1. California. Reporting a total of 237 cases, California represents 9.16% of the total population inflicted with the disorder. There are 116 cases for hepatitis A, 105 cases for hepatitis B and 16 cases of hepatitis C.

2. Florida. This state reported 236 cases, 1 point short from California's 237. This represents 9.12% of the nation's total and is categorized into 84 cases for hepatitis A, 136 cases for hepatitis B and 16 cases for hepatitis C.

3. Texas. With 217 cases, Texas' hepatitis cases is 8.39% of the country's total. There are 66 cases of hepatitis A in the state while there are 139 cases of hepatitis B. The remaining 12 cases belong to hepatitis C.

4. New York. The state has 128 cases for New York Upstate and New York City. This is 4.94% of the total cases for the country. This is divided into 48 cases for hepatitis A, 61 cases for hepatitis B and 19 cases for hepatitis C.

5. Connecticut. With 112 cases, Connecticut has 4.33% hepatitis incidents out of the country's total. This is broken down into 43, 26 and 23 cases for hepatitis A, B, and C respectively.

6. North Carolina. Reporting 104 cases for this disease (31, 56 and 17 cases each for hepatitis A, B and C), the state represents 4.02% of the country's overall numbers.

7. Michigan. The state has a total of 103 cases representing 32, 59 and 12 for hepatitis A, B and C respectively. This is 3.98% of the total for the entire country.

8. New Jersey. The state has 97 cases which represent 34 for hepatitis A, 57 for hepatitis B and 6 for hepatitis C. This is all in all 3.75% of US's total for 2009.

9. Pennsylvania. Tying up with New Jersey, Pennsylvania's cases are broken down as follows: 29 cases for hepatitis A; 52 cases for hepatitis B and 16 cases for hepatitis C.

10. Illinois. Lagging just one case behind New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Illinois has 96 cases for the disease. It reported 46 cases for hepatitis A and another 47 cases for the B-type. As for hepatitis C, the state has 3 cases. This is 3.71% of the country's total.

The total number of hepatitis cases may be way below the total number of people living in the US. While this is so, there is no reason not to take necessary precaution when it comes to this illness.

Lena Butler, the author of Health & Drug Testing Information Center a longer version of this article is located at Top 10 States with Highest Cases of Hepatitis for 2009, and resources from other home health and wellness testing articles are used such as Hepatitis C Test.

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