Chronic Hepatitis B

Abstract

Chronic hepatitis B is said to affect at least 5 percent of the world's population and to be the chief cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.¹ The World Health Organization lists hepatitis B as the ninth major cause of death worldwide, close behind chronic pulmonary disease and well ahead of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. These estimates suggest that chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the most important chronic viral infection affecting humans.The portrayal of chronic hepatitis B as a major health risk must strike most U.S. physicians as somewhat forced or exaggerated. In this country and other developed . . .