Resumo

IDROVO CUBIDES, Víctor. Viral hepatitis B. Rev Col Gastroenterol [online]. 2007, vol.22, n.2, pp.111-117. ISSN 0120-9957.

Viral hepatitis B is an infectious disease that affects almost 400.000.000 individuals worldwide. It is the main cause of liver cancer in high endemicity areas, such as the Sub Sahara and the Far East, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to cirrhosis and liver insufficiency. Between 90 to 95% of adults with acute hepatitis recover spontaneously and develop permanent immunity, and less than 1% progress to acute liver failure with high mortality, unless a liver transplant is performed. Only 5 to 10% of adults progress to chronic liver disease, with a risk of developing cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma. Effective vaccines are available, but universal vaccination that could eradicate this infection in a few decades is far from being performed in all the countries worldwide. There are effective antivirals and immune modulators against hepatitis B. These therapies do not eradicate the infection, but are able to suppress the viral load to undetectable levels, thus controlling the inflammation and the production of fibrosis in the liver, and consequently preventing the progression to cirrhosis, liver insufficiency and liver cancer. A concise updated review about this hepatotrophic virus is presented here.

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