title: Lessons learnt over two decades of vaccination against hepatitis B in Italy.
abstract: This article reviews topics covered and discussed at the Meeting: "Vaccini e vaccinazioni. Migliorare l'oggi e preparare il domani", held in Genoa, Italy, on 12 September 2014. Data presented at the meeting, clearly showed that: 1) hepatitis B vaccination can confer long-term protection and there is no need for booster in immunocompetent vaccinees; 2) vaccination is highly effective in protecting population from clinical acute or chronic HBV infections, including hepatocellular carcinoma; 3) children vaccinated as infants with hexavalent vaccines maintain immunological memory 5 years after priming, but further studies are needed to assess whether immunity persists during the adolescence and adulthood when risk of exposure to HBV becomes higher; 4) the emergence of vaccine-escape mutants and Pol-gene mutants during antiviral therapy - which can result in changes in the S-gene - is of some concern, but at present there is no evidence that such mutants may pose a threat to the established programs of vaccination.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romanò
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tagliacarne
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Zanetti
keywords: HBV mutants; Hepatitis B; Vaccination