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Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is one of the most infectious viral diseases affecting humans, with over 2 billion people having been infected at some point in their lives. While the disease only becomes chronic in a small proportion of these, it still amounts to 350 million worldwide with disease for life potentially leading to liver cirrhosis or cancer.ANCHOR

In 1976, Maurice Hilleman and his colleagues published details of their vaccine for hepatitis B.ANCHOR This garnered a lot of attention, not just because of the health benefits but also because the vaccine was made from purified blood of people with a high chance of having the disease – gay men and intravenous drug users.ANCHOR The blood was purified to isolate the harmless hepatitis B surface proteins, so that the immune system could learn to recognise them and protect the body if faced with the real virus.

The vaccine was tested on chimpanzees, where it was shown to be safe and effective against the virus. As hepatitis B significantly increases the risk of liver cancer in chronic patients, this vaccine can be regarded as the first cancer vaccine.
The vaccine was tested on chimpanzees, where it was shown to be safe and effective against the virus. As hepatitis B significantly increases the risk of liver cancer in chronic patients, this vaccine can be regarded as the first cancer vaccine.


Références

  1. 1. World Health Organisation Hepatitis B fact sheet (updated July 2013) http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs204/en/
  2. 2. R. Palmer Beasley (2009) Development of Hepatitis B Vaccine JAMA 302(3):322-324 doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1024
  3. 3. http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/07/26/world-hepatitis-day-the-history-of-the-hepatitis-b-vaccine/


Last edited: 27 August 2014 06:08

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