Hepatitis B virus

Abstract

The goal of chemoprevention for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) must be to improve the quality and the outcomes of care for patients with CHB. This chapter focuses on the human hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV is an enveloped, 3.2-kb double-stranded DNA virus which may be classified into eight major genotypes (A to H) based on a nucleotide diversity of 8% or more. HBV infection is usually diagnosed using specific serologic assays. During the course of infection, the viral proteins HBsAg, HBcAg, and HBeAg stimulate the immune system to produce the corresponding antibodies anti-HBs, anti-HBc, and anti-HBe. Once HBV DNA becomes detectable, replication increases exponentially to peak at levels of >1012cop..