A winning war against hepatitis B virus infection in China

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide health problem.According to WHO estimation,about 2 billion people globally have been infected With HBV and 350 million of them have chronic HBV infection.1     

Prevention of hepatitis B in China: achievements and challenges

Hepatitis B virus （HBV） infection has been an .important public health problem in China.According to the Chinese Health Statistical Digest published by the Ministry of Health of the People＇s Republic of China, the morbidity and mortality of viral hepatitis are the highest among the infectious diseases compulsorily reported to the authorities of public health. The average incidence rate of viral hepatitis is 50-100 per 100 000, i.e. 0.6-1.2 million acute viral hepatitis cases occur every year in the country. Among them, 25% are hepatitis B. There are estimated 93 million of chronic HBV carriers among its 1.3 billion population,     

Epidemiology and prevention of hepatitis B virus in China

Hepatitis B virus （HBV） infection is prevalent in China. Approximately 600 million people have ever been infected by HBV. About 130 million are HBV chronic carders and 30 million HB patients. Among them, 50% of HBV carriers are caused by carrier mothers to born infants. Around 300 000 people died of liver disease including liver cirrhosis and primary hepatocellular carcinoma each year and 50% of them died of primary hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV infection is not only the health problem but also becoming a social problem. HBV chronic carriers and patients have endured the great pressure from disease burden and social discrimination. According to the report of the national screening program of HBV released by the ministry of health in 2008, China has taken many effective measures to control the HBV infection, including vaccine immunization program, strengthening the management of blood sources and blood productions, prevention of nosocomial HBV infection, strengthening health education on HBV infection and safe injection techniques. The implementation of HB vaccine immunization program, which China officially introduced into the national immunization program since 1992, has dramatically reduced the incidence of HBV infection among infants and children. Integrated with other interventions, the rate of HBV infection decreased gradually. According to the survey of the national screening program of HBV in 2006, compared with the incidence of HBV in 1992, the incidence rate of HBsAg positive has decreased 26.36%, the number of children who have ever been infected by HBV decreased 80 million since 1992. However some problems are still existing. The solutions of low rate of vaccination in rural areas and migration population, lacking of practical measures on management of hepatitis B patients, the occurrence of health care acquired HBV infection, and low rate of vaccination among high risk groups have also been recommended.     

Treatment of viral hepatitis in China: better clinical research and improved practice

Hepatitis virus infection, especially chronic infection with hepatitis B virus （HBV） and hepatitis C virus （HCV）, is a serious issue to global public health. Although the prevalence of HBsAg in the general population has been declined dramatically in China due to universal HBV vaccination in newborns, chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C are still the main causes of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） that are responsible for a high rate of morbidity and mortality.1＇2 HBV- and HCV-related end-stage liver disease are also the leading indications of liver transplantation in China.     

Infection of hepatitis B virus in extrahepatic endothelial tissues mediated by endothelial progenitor cells

Background： Hepatitis B virus（HBV） replication has been reported to be involved in many extrahepatic viral disorders; however, the mechanism by which HBV is trans-infected into extrahepatic tissues such as HBV associated myocarditis remains largely unknown. Results：In this study, we showed that human cord blood endothelial progenitor cells （EPCs）, but not human umbilical vein endothelial cells （HUVECs） could be effectively infected by uptake of HBV in vitro. Exposure of EPCs with HBV resulted in HBV DNA and viral particles were detected in EPCs at day 3 after HBV challenge, which were peaked around day 7 and declined in 3 weeks. Consistently, HBV envelope surface and core antigens were first detected in EPCs at day 3 after virus challenge and were retained to be detectable for 3 weeks.