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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Aug 28, 2015; 7(18): 2127-2132
Published online Aug 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i18.2127
Published online Aug 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i18.2127
Three decades of hepatitis B control with vaccination
Liliane C Meireles, Rui Tato Marinho, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, 1649-035 Lisbon, Portugal
Pierre Van Damme, Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Author contributions: Meireles LC contributed to preparation and critical review of the manuscript; Marinho RT and Van Damme P contributed to critical review of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Liliane C Meireles and Rui Tato Marinho declare to no conflict-of-interest. Pierre Van Damme acts as chief and principal investigator for vaccine trials conducted on behalf of the University of Antwerp, for which the University obtains research grants from vaccine manufacturers; speakers fees for presentations on vaccines and other research grants are paid directly to an educational fund held by the University of Antwerp. Van Damme P receives no personal remuneration for this work.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Liliane C Meireles, MD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Avenida Egas Moniz, 1649-035 Lisbon, Portugal. lilianeenailil@gmail.com
Telephone: +351-91-6747892 Fax: +351-21-7805610
Received: May 9, 2015
Peer-review started: May 9, 2015
First decision: July 6, 2015
Revised: July 23, 2015
Accepted: July 29, 2015
Article in press: August 3, 2015
Published online: August 28, 2015
Peer-review started: May 9, 2015
First decision: July 6, 2015
Revised: July 23, 2015
Accepted: July 29, 2015
Article in press: August 3, 2015
Published online: August 28, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: It is now 50 years since the discovery of the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Effective vaccines have been available since the 80s and vaccination has proved to confer lifelong protection against hepatitis B and was highly successful in reducing the disease burden. However, the occurrence of breakthrough infections, the immunological effect of natural boosting and the effectiveness of universal hepatitis B vaccination remains a challenge. The fight against HBV is not over yet, but the broad use of vaccination is the cornerstone and the most important measure to control HBV and all its consequences.