[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 16981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05715]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket No. CDC-2022-0044]


CDC Recommendations for Hepatitis B Screening and Testing--United 
States, 2022

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: General notice.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within 
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces the 
availability of the final CDC Recommendations for Hepatitis B Screening 
and Testing--United States, 2022.

DATES: The final document was published as an MMWR Reports & 
Recommendations on March 10, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The document may be found in the docket at 
www.regulations.gov, Docket No. CDC-2022-0044 and at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/rr/rr7201a1.htm?s_cid=rr7201a1_w.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Conners, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop U12-3, Atlanta, 
GA 30329. Telephone: 404-639-8000; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2022, CDC determined that CDC 
Recommendations for Hepatitis B Screening and Testing--United States, 
2022 constituted influential scientific information (ISI) that will 
have a clear and substantial impact on important public policies and 
private sector decisions. Under the Information Quality Act, Public Law 
106-554, federal agencies are required to conduct peer review of the 
information by specialists in the field who were not involved in the 
development of these recommendations. CDC solicited nominations for 
reviewers from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases 
(AASLD), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and American 
College of Physicians (ACP). Five clinicians with expertise in 
hepatology, gastroenterology, internal medicine, infectious diseases, 
and/or pediatrics provided structured peer reviews. A list of peer 
reviewers and CDC's responses to peer review comments are available at 
CDC's Viral Hepatitis Influential Scientific Information web page at 
https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/policy/isireview/index.htm.
    In addition, on April 4, 2022, CDC published a notice in the 
Federal Register (87 FR 19516-19517) to obtain public comment on the 
draft recommendations for hepatitis B screening and testing. The 
comment period closed on June 3, 2022. CDC received comments from 28 
commenters on the draft recommendations document. Public commenters 
included those from academia, the health care sector, advocacy groups, 
professional organizations, industry, the public, and a consulting 
group.
    Many of the comments expressed support for the recommendations. 
Other comments related to the 3-panel test recommendation, inclusion of 
hepatitis D information, the hepatitis B prevalence estimate, modifying 
testing and vaccination language, adding scientific references, and 
making other minor language modifications. CDC addressed these comments 
by correcting, clarifying, or updating content in the final 
recommendations. A summary of public comments and CDC's response can be 
found in the Documents tab of the docket.

Tiffany Brown,
Acting Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-05715 Filed 3-20-23; 8:45 am]
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