Hepatitis B Virus

Metabolic comorbidities heightened risk for adverse liver-related events among patients with chronic hepatitis B virus, with the highest risk found among patients with multiple comorbidities, according to research.

Although Black individuals with chronic hepatitis B were less likely to meet treatment criteria, researchers reported no significant differences in treatment initiation between racial groups, according to data in JAMA Network Open.

Despite an increase in adolescent HPV vaccination over the last decade, many parents remain unsure about whether it is necessary to have their children vaccinated, researchers reported in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

SEATTLE — The effort to find a cure for hepatitis B faces steep challenges, Anna Suk-Fong Lok, MD, told Healio after her plenary presentation at the Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

The Hepatitis B Foundation has awarded Stephen Urban, PhD, the 2023 Baruch S. Blumberg Prize for his development of bulevirtide, the first drug approved for the treatment of hepatitis D.

WASHINGTON — Preliminary results showed combined VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 therapy reduced hepatitis B surface antigen with mild adverse events among a small subset of patients with chronic HBV infection.

The FDA has updated the label indication for 25 mg tenofovir alafenamide for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus with compensated liver disease, expanding the patient population to include children aged 12 years older.

Healio spoke with Meg Doherty, MD, MPH, PhD, Director Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes at WHO, about elimination efforts for hepatitis D, including how hepatitis D would be affected by WHO Global Hepatitis Elimination goals and what U.S. physician can do to help work towards hepatitis elimination.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted areas in which the medical community can improve patient care and access to treatment for numerous conditions, including hepatitis D virus.

Although progress has been made in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B by 2030, 26% of countries have not introduced a birth dose into routine hepatitis B vaccination, noted data in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.