Challenges in the management of hepatitis B virus

Abstract

Hepatitis B infection remains a major public health concern, affecting over 250 million people worldwide according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite hepatitis B being a vaccine preventable liver infection, approximately 250,000 to 500,000 deaths yearly are attributed to hepatitis B infection, including mortality secondary to cirrhosis-related liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Finding a cure for hepatitis B remains an active challenge to the scientific community due to its unique formation of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). Current management of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) includes nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) to disrupt viral replication. However, further studies are being conducted to completely eradicate cccDNA, representing a hallmark of complete cure from hepatitis B.