title: Chronic hepatitis B. Hope for decreasing its impact.
abstract: Although chronic hepatitis B is a relatively common disease that may have a serious outcome, the outlook is by no means uniformly poor. Alpha interferon therapy may be helpful in up to one third of patients who have hepatitis B e antigen in serum and elevated serum aminotransferase levels. New drugs that may have even better results are being developed. Hepatitis B may be prevented by large-scale use of hepatitis B vaccine. National vaccination programs may eventually eliminate or at least substantially decrease the impact of this viral infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, MO 63104, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Di Bisceglie
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D016898:Interferon-alpha