Present state and the future direction of HBV vaccine

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) prevention program in Japan is considered one of the most successful and effective public anti-counter programs to HBV infection. However, almost all of population under twenty-five years is extremely susceptibility for HBV infection. HBV genotype A, which was not in Japan and has been from western countries, is increasing in chronic hepatitis B patients in Japan as a consequence of acute hepatitis B spreading in the younger generation through promiscuous sexual transmitted infection and the characteristics of HBV genotype A is a prolonged high HBVDNA viremia compared with other HBV genotypes. These data have strongly indicated that the main transmission route of HBV in Japan has been changed to a horizontal infection with sexual transmitted disease from perinatal transmission from HBsAg positive mothers. Although the HBV vaccine has tipped the balance in our favor, newly issues of HBV vaccine has been arisen such as vaccine escape mutant, efficacy and potency for the prevention of HBV infection, especially different HBV genotypes, HBV reactivation on the patients with HBsAg negative and anti-HBs antibody positive under systemic chemotherapy, and universal vaccination or selective vaccination and so on.
We discussed on these problems and would be also developed to HBV vaccine.