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Global HBV burden: guesstimates and facts

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Abstract

Chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) continues to pose a serious global health threat in many areas of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the Western Pacific Region and areas of Eastern Europe. Endemicity is heterogeneous within and across regions owing to variable implementation of childhood and birth-dose vaccination programs, inconsistent screening of blood products, injection drug use, and poor education initiatives. This review aims to provide comprehensive up-to-date estimates of global seroprevalence of chronic HBV across six World Health Organization (WHO) regions, noting patterns of change over time and highlighting potential region-specific barriers to the diagnosis and elimination of HBV.

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Funding

No funding was provided for this work. Robert Wong was supported by an AASLD Foundation Clinical and Translational Research Award in Liver Diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Endoscopy Unit, Alameda Health System-Highland Hospital Campus-Highland Care Pavilion 5th Floor, 1411 East 31st Street, Oakland, CA, 94602, USA

    Dina Ginzberg, Robert J. Wong & Robert Gish

  2. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford Health Care, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Dina Ginzberg & Robert Gish

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  1. Dina Ginzberg
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  2. Robert J. Wong
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  3. Robert Gish
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Correspondence to Robert J. Wong.

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Conflict of interest

Dina Ginzberg: none. Robert Wong: research funding, advisory board, consulting, speaker’s bureau—Gilead; research funding: Abbvie; speaker’s bureau: Salix, Bayer. Robert Gish: Dr. Gish has received Grants/research support from AbbVie, Benitec Biopharma, Gilead Sciences, and Merck & Co. Dr. Gish has performed as consultant and/or advisor to AbbVie, Akshaya Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, Hoffman-LaRoche, Ltd., Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, Merck & Co., Nanogen Biopharmaceutical, and Presidio Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Gish has current activity with the scientific or clinical advisory boards of AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Merck & Co., and Nanogen Biopharmaceutical. Dr. Gish is a member of the Speakers Bureau for AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, and Merck. Dr. Gish is a minor stock shareholder of Cocrystal Pharma.

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Ginzberg, D., Wong, R.J. & Gish, R. Global HBV burden: guesstimates and facts. Hepatol Int 12, 315–329 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-018-9884-8

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