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Hepatitis vaccines: recent advances.

Abstract
Despite the availability of hepatitis A vaccines that might provide protection for decades, hepatitis B vaccines that provides protection for at least 15 years and the recent introduction of a combined hepatitis A and B vaccine, these infections continue to spread in both the developed and developing world. Hepatitis A vaccine coverage has been limited to high-risk groups: such a selective immunisation policy is unlikely to have a major impact. If adequate immunogenicity in infants is confirmed, dosing schedules can be improved and the costs of vaccination reduced, universal paediatric immunisation with combined hepatitis A and B products is likely to result in the eventual eradication of these infections. In the interim, novel hepatitis A vaccines are being investigated and additional studies on hepatitis A vaccine immunogenicity in infants are in progress. Worldwide use of hepatitis B vaccines for the newborn, young children and high-risk groups should control this infection and obviate the need for a vaccine against hepatitis D. Newer hepatitis B vaccines that may reduce the likelihood of non-responsiveness and have immunotherapeutic value are under study. A recombinant hepatitis E vaccine for use in endemic regions is currently in clinical trials. The development of an effective hepatitis C vaccine has been agonisingly slow and many impediments have been recognised. These include the lack of a susceptible small animal, a high degree of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genomic diversity and failure to produce high quantities of HCV in tissue culture. The development of a novel HCV replicon system may be a major breakthrough. Nonetheless, it may still be exceedingly difficult to produce a vaccine that uniformly provides sterilising immunity; the possibility of developing a hepatitis C vaccine that can prevent chronic infection is an exciting concept that requires further investigation. Advances in recombinant technology, the use of novel genetic (DNA-based) vaccines, expression of hepatitis antigens in plants and improved adjuvants also hold considerable promise.
AuthorsRaymond S Koff
JournalInternational journal for parasitology (Int J Parasitol) Vol. 33 Issue 5-6 Pg. 517-23 (May 2003) ISSN: 0020-7519 [Print] England
PMID12782052 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
Chemical References
  • Vaccines
  • Vaccines, Combined
  • Vaccines, Synthetic
Topics
  • Genome
  • Hepatitis (immunology, prevention & control)
  • Hepatitis A (immunology, prevention & control)
  • Hepatitis B (immunology, prevention & control)
  • Hepatitis C (genetics, immunology, prevention & control)
  • Hepatitis D (immunology, prevention & control)
  • Humans
  • Vaccination (trends)
  • Vaccines (immunology, therapeutic use)
  • Vaccines, Combined (immunology, therapeutic use)
  • Vaccines, Synthetic (immunology, therapeutic use)

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