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- Posted April 17, 2025
Medical Mistrust Could Be Harming Hep A Vaccination Rates Among Gay, Bisexual Men
Hepatitis A vaccinations could be lagging among men who have sex with men due to a mistrust of medicine, particularly among racial and ethnic minority groups, a new study says.
Only about 60% of surveyed gay and bisexual men were fully vaccinated for hepatitis A, even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the jab for those at higher risk of acquiring the viral infection, researchers reported in the International Journal of STD & AIDS.
“Despite public health recommendations, we see a significant gap in hepatitis A vaccination among men who have sex with men, particularly among those who are Black and multiracial,” lead researcher Tiffany Guo, a doctoral student in the Rutgers School of Public Health, said in a news release.
Hepatitis A is a highly infectious liver disease that in rare cases can cause liver failure and even death, according to the CDC. It spreads through close person-to-person contact or by eating contaminated food or drink.
While most people fully recover from hepatitis A, outbreaks have increased in recent years among men who have sex with men, researchers said in background notes.
The most common reasons that men cited for not being vaccinated were that they felt it was unnecessary (44%) or that they didn’t know that much about it (17%), the study says.
However, researchers also found higher levels of medical mistrust among those who weren’t vaccinated against hepatitis A, as well as among Black and Hispanic men.
“Our findings highlight the need for targeted intervention strategies that address both vaccine accessibility and medical mistrust,” senior researcher Kristen Krause, deputy director of Rutgers' Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies, said in a news release.
The study was derived from a sample of 222 New York and New Jersey men surveyed between October 2021 and November 2022.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on hepatitis A.
SOURCE: Rutgers University, news release, April 14, 2025
