Updates on hepatitis B

HCPLive: Study highlights global disparities in HBV evaluation, treatment

Findings from a recent study are sounding the alarm on significant sex and ethnic disparities in hepatitis B virus evaluation and treatment. Results of the multinational, real-world study were published in Journal of Hepatology and showed female treatment-eligible patients were about 50% less likely to receive antiviral treatment and Asian patients from Western regions were also about 50% less likely to receive adequate evaluation or treatment compared to Asians from the East.

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The Rockefeller University: Researchers may have found an Achilles heel for hepatitis B

Tiny, dangerous, and easily transmitted, hepatitis B virus (HBV) chronically affects about 296 million people and kills about 1 million every year. This stealthy virus invades the liver and remains largely asymptomatic until it culminates in cirrhosis or cancer. Most treatments try to inhibit the virus’s polymerase protein. But those treatments are lifelong and not curative. Now researchers have revealed never-before-seen mechanisms that may lead to new therapeutic approaches for HBV. They published the results in Cell.

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