Hepatitis B Virus News and Research

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Breakthrough study shows transplanting Hepatitis C-infected kidneys is safe

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that affects the liver and is usually acquired from infected blood. Formerly called non-A, non-B hepatitis, this infection causes inflammation of the liver, sometimes causing serious liver damage.

2 Sep 2019

Needle stick injuries are common and can transmit many blood-borne pathogens

Needle stick injuries (NSIs) can transmit more than 20 blood-borne pathogens, including HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and, more rarely, malaria, human T cell leukemia virus and Ebola.

25 Aug 2019

Human apolipoprotein E promotes hepatitis B virus infection

Human apolipoprotein E (apoE) promotes hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and production, according to a study published DATE in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Luhua Qiao and Guangxiang (George) Luo of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.

From PLOS ONE 13 Aug 2019

Antiviral drugs for hepatitis C reduce liver-related deaths by nearly half, study shows

A new study from the UT Southwestern Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center demonstrates that antiviral drugs for hepatitis C reduce liver-related deaths by nearly 50% in patients with a history of liver cancer.

10 Aug 2019

Discovery of unusual HBV in shrews offers new opportunity to better understand the disease

The discovery of an unusual hepatitis B virus from shrews offers new opportunities of better understanding the chronic progression of the disease. International research teams were able to demonstrate that an important protein which is essential for the development of a chronic course of infection is not present in this virus.

3 Aug 2019

90% of hepatitis cases, 65% hepatitis deaths preventable by 2030

A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that 4.5 million deaths could be prevented by 2030, and 26 million beyond that, if 67 countries in the low- and middle-income bracket invest $6 billion a year towards abolishing hepatitis. Hepatitis is a completely preventable and treatable illness at present, and in fact, hepatitis C is completely curable.

29 Jul 2019

EPFL scientists create first world map of regions with highest hepatitis E prevalence

EPFL scientists have created the first world map of regions with the highest prevalence of the hepatitis E virus.

11 Jul 2019

Australia leads the world in childhood immunization coverage

Even as Australia reels under a deadly flu season, some solace may be found in the fact that almost 95% of of five-year-old Australian children are almost completely immunized against deadly childhood diseases, according to the latest report.

8 Jul 2019

Molecular virologist receives nearly $2 million NIH grant renewal to study hepatitis E virus

For decades, University Distinguished Professor of Molecular Virology X.J. Meng and his lab at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine have studied hepatitis E virus (HEV), the causative agent of hepatitis E in humans.

21 Jun 2019

Researcher employs people who inject drugs to study factors influencing acquisition of HIV

In recent years, the HIV infection rate in Estonia has continued to be around 200 new cases each year, which is still one of the highest incidence rates per 100,000 inhabitants in Europe.

20 Jun 2019

Researchers identify genetic mutation that causes fatal response to HAV infection

Researchers have identified a genetic mutation that caused an 11-year-old girl to suffer a fatal reaction to infection with the Hepatitis A virus.

18 Jun 2019

Elimination of vertical transmission of HCV from mothers to babies

Hepatitis C virus transmission from mothers to babies could largely be prevented if Canada recommended universal screening for HCV in pregnancy, argues a commentary in CMAJ.

17 Jun 2019

Researchers succeed in conquering chronic infection with hepatitis B virus

Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich, working in collaboration with researchers at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University Hospital Heidelberg, have for the first time succeeded in conquering a chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus in a mouse model.

11 Jun 2019

Plant-derived siRNAs could bring a 'green revolution' in RNAi tools and therapeutics

"Green revolution" in the early 1950s, the extensive cultivation of Dwarf Rice solves the food problem in developing countries. At present, chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been a major public health problem.

11 Jun 2019

Opioid epidemic increases proportion of hearts transplanted from overdose death donors

The confluence of two major health crises—the opioid epidemic and organ shortage—has moved surgeons to consider transplanting organs deemed as less than "perfect" in an effort to expand the donor pool and save more lives, according to research published online today in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, published by Elsevier.

7 Jun 2019

Early contact with needle-exchange program can have a protective effect against hepatitis C

People who inject drugs and who are female, homeless or amphetamine users often share needles and syringes, and consequently run a higher risk of infection hepatitis C virus infection that affect the liver.

3 Jun 2019

New project involves understanding link between opioid crisis and cancer

Jennifer Havens, Ph.D., professor of behavioral science in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, faculty member in the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research and member of the team awarded $87 million through the National Institutes of Health's HEALing Communities study, has spent the past decade studying the transmission of infectious disease and advocating for the expansion of harm reduction programs.

20 May 2019

Researchers describe the impact of chronic hepatitis D on parts of the immune system

Approximately one out of every ten people with hepatitis B are coinfected with hepatitis D, which is among the most serious liver conditions.

15 May 2019

New findings could facilitate the development of hepatitis C mouse model

Small differences in a liver cell protein have significant impacts on hepatitis C virus replication in mice and humans, findings that could facilitate the development of a mouse model of the infection. The report, led by researchers at Princeton University, was published today in the journal eLife.

12 May 2019

Research sheds light on how hepatitis B virus establishes chronic infection

New research sheds light on how a hepatitis B viral protein stimulates the expansion of immune cells that impair antiviral responses, according to a study published April 18 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Haitao Guo of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Bin Wang and Jiming Zhang of Fudan University, and colleagues.

19 Apr 2019