Persistance of Antibody in Health Care Workers Vaccinated Against Hepatitis B: AStudy on Vaccine Effectiveness Over Time

摘要

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) was first discovered in 1965 and first associatedwith the clinical disease of hepatitis in 1967. In 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that over a billion people currently living had been infected with HBV and that more than 200 million people world-wide were currently infected. Additionally, WHO estimated that HBV infection is responsible for one to two million deaths annually, HBV is thought to be the single most important cause of persistent viremia in humans. The HBV is responsible for approximately 80% of cases of primary hepatocellular carcinoma and is second only to tobacco in its importance as a known human carcinogen.