Chronic Hepatitis B

Chronic hepatitis B remains a major public health problem, affecting more than 350 million people worldwide. Cirrhosis, liver failure, or hepatocellular carcinoma will develop in approximately 15 to 40 percent of infected patients.The worldwide prevalence of carriage of hepatitis B virus (HBV) ranges from 0.1 to 20 percent. The wide range is largely related to differences in age at the time of infection — a factor that is inversely related to the risk of chronic infection. Perinatal infection is the predominant mode of transmission in high-prevalence areas, and horizontal transmission during early childhood is the most common form in . . .