Hepatitis B Virus: Advances in Prevention, Diagnosis, and Therapy.

Hepatitis B Virus: Advances in Prevention, Diagnosis, and Therapy. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2020 Mar 18;33(2): Authors: Nguyen MH, Wong G, Gane E, Kao JH, Dusheiko G Abstract SUMMARYCurrently, despite the use of a preventive vaccine for several decades as well as the use of effective and well-tolerated viral suppressive medications since 1998, approximately 250 million people remain infected with the virus that causes hepatitis B worldwide. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) are the leading causes of liver cancer and overall mortality globally, surpassing malaria and tuberculosis. Linkage to care is estimated to be very poor both in developing countries and in high-income countries, such as the United States, countries in Western Europe, and Japan. In the United States, by CDC estimates, only one-third of HBV-infected patients or less are aware of their infection. Some reasons for these low rates of surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment include the asymptomatic nature of chronic hepatitis B until the very late stages, a lack of curative therapy with a finite treatment duration, a complex natural history, and a lack of knowledge about the disease by both care providers and patients. In the last 5 years, more attention has been focused on the important topics of HBV screening, diagnosis of HBV infection, and appropriate linkage to care. There have also been rapid clinical developments toward a functional cure of HBV infe...
Source: Clinical Microbiology Reviews - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Clin Microbiol Rev Source Type: research