Hep B Blog

Tag Archives: HBV Awareness

Hepatitis B Advocacy, Hepatitis B Prevention, Living with Hepatitis B

“How Did You Get Hepatitis B?” Why We Should Answer

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Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By Christine Kukka

Telling someone you have hepatitis B is almost always followed by the question, “how did you get it?”

The question can feel like an invasion of privacy or an indictment. Behind the question lurks a desire for reassurance that hepatitis B won’t happen to them, but of course it can. And that’s why we should answer and tell our story.

On a global scale, the story of hepatitis B is the story of humanity. How we and our forebears became infected results from centuries of human migrations, the transatlantic slave trade, political upheaval, poverty, re-used medical devices and ineffective public health policies. Continue reading "“How Did You Get Hepatitis B?” Why We Should Answer" →

Hepatitis B Treatment, Living with Hepatitis B

The Hepatitis B Patient Community Loses Its “Mom”

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Hep B List "parents" Sheree Martin and Steve Bingham at a 2005 patient conference.
Hep B List “parents” Sheree Martin and Steve Bingham at a 2005 patient conference.

The hepatitis B community recently lost its much-loved advocate, resource and “mom,” Sheree Martin. She was co-owner of the Hepatits B Information and Support List from 1998 to 2011 and comforter and consultant to thousands of people around the world who live with hepatitis B.

The reach of her kindness and wisdom cannot be under-estimated. In the early days of hepatitis B, when medical treatment was misguided and stigma ran rife, Sheree nurtured a safe, online community that provided reassurance and accurate medical information. For many, it was the first time they were able to share the confusion, loneliness and frustration of living with chronic hepatitis B with people just like them. Continue reading "The Hepatitis B Patient Community Loses Its “Mom”" →

Hepatitis B Prevention, Living with Hepatitis B

Preparing for College, Dating and Disclosing Hepatitis B

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When my daughter, who has chronic hepatitis B, packed for her freshman year of college, I peppered her with warnings about the need for standard precautions and condoms. I suggested wording for a future conversation where she would disclose her infection and negotiate safe sex with a potential partner.

I hoped these verbal dress rehearsals would empower and protect her, especially if that potential boyfriend turned her down. I wanted her to know that any rejection would not be about her or her hepatitis B, it would be about his fears. Continue reading "Preparing for College, Dating and Disclosing Hepatitis B" →

Hepatitis B Prevention, Living with Hepatitis B

Celebrate World Hepatitis Day By Making Hepatitis B History

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Joan M. Block, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Joan M. Block, Co-Founder and Executive Director

By Joan M. Block, RN, BSN
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Hepatitis B Foundation

Tuesday, July 28, is World Hepatitis Day, which commemorates the birthday of Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for identifying the hepatitis B virus and developing a vaccine to prevent it. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the hepatitis B virus – a discovery that has literally saved hundreds of millions of lives.
Continue reading "Celebrate World Hepatitis Day By Making Hepatitis B History" →

Hepatitis B Diagnosis & Monitoring, Hepatitis B Prevention, Living with Hepatitis B

Expert Calls for Viral Load Testing in All Pregnant Women with Hepatitis B

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Dr. Ravi Jhaveri, an infectious disease specialist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, talks to parents.
Dr. Ravi Jhaveri, an infectious disease specialist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, talks to parents.

Today, all pregnant women are routinely screened for hepatitis B, but a growing number of doctors say this single test doesn’t go far enough to protect the health of women and children.

In a commentary published in the medical journal Pediatrics,  infectious disease specialist Dr. Ravi Jhaveri calls for a mandatory second test in pregnant women infected with hepatitis B. This test would measure the amount of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in her body (called viral load).

When women have high viral loads, their newborns can become infected even if they are immunized at birth and treated with HBIG (hepatitis B antibodies) to prevent infection. Continue reading "Expert Calls for Viral Load Testing in All Pregnant Women with Hepatitis B" →

Hepatitis B Advocacy, Hepatitis B Diagnosis & Monitoring, Hepatitis B Prevention, Living with Hepatitis B

Four Things Fathers Affected by Hepatitis B Can Do for Themselves and Their Families

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Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Father’s Day, June 21, is a day to celebrate the contributions men make in their children’s lives. It’s also a good day for fathers to acknowledge how valuable they are to their families and how important it is to take care of their health.

Living with chronic hepatitis B can be challenging. Here are some things dads can do to take care of themselves or family members infected with hepatitis B.

1. Get outside and soak in some sunlight and some vitamin D. People with hepatitis B who have vitamin D deficiencies have higher rates of liver damage, cirrhosis and cancer. A healthy diet provides vitamin D, but 80 percent of our vitamin D comes from 15 minutes of exposure to sunlight two to three times a week. So get outside and walk, garden, exercise and soak in some healthy sunlight.

Continue reading "Four Things Fathers Affected by Hepatitis B Can Do for Themselves and Their Families" →

Liver Cancer

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

moon-anncart-logo-for-blog-300x180In celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Dr. moon Chen, Principal Investigator for the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness Research and Training (AANCART) and UC Davis professor, reflects on the unnecessary cancer burden in Asian American and Pacific Islanders, including the burden of  hepatitis B related liver cancer.  Continue reading "May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month" →

Hepatitis B Advocacy

Hepatitis on the Hill – HBV Personal Perspective and Action Alert

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75 hepatitis B and C advocates join together for Hepatitis on the Hill!

On March 9-10 I participated in “Hepatitis on the Hill” in Washington, DC. The event was organized by Hep B United (HBU), the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) and the Hepatitis Appropriations Partnership (HAP), and brought together both hepatitis B and C advocates. This was an incredible opportunity to work together, network, and advocate on the Hill. Continue reading "Hepatitis on the Hill – HBV Personal Perspective and Action Alert" →

Hepatitis B Prevention, Living with Hepatitis B

The Fifty Shades of “Gray” of Hepatitis B Transmission – Part 1

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1716136dfa105e7f9bdf96de16e31742All pun and a little fun is intended with this title, but the “adult” version of hepatitis B transmission is a serious concern. There are “shades of gray” when it comes to hepatitis B transmission and the degree of risk with sexual activity. Continue reading "The Fifty Shades of “Gray” of Hepatitis B Transmission – Part 1" →

Hepatitis B Treatment

Research at the HBF’s Baruch S. Blumberg Institute

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hbvvirus

Hepatitis C is now declared curable. Hepatitis B is still not, despite having been discovered nearly 50 years ago. An interview with Dr. Timothy Block of  the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute. The future does look bright…

Perhaps this should not be a surprise, thinks Timothy Block, PhD, president and co-founder of the Hepatitis B Foundation (HBF) and its research arm, the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute. According to Block,there are two main reasons for the “cure deficit” between hepatitis B and C — funding and physiology.

He points out that commercial and federal investment in hepatitis C have been far greater than in hepatitis B. And that has clearly paid off in terms of finding a hepatitis C cure. “You get what you pay for,” he observes.

Physiologically, hepatitis B also presents unique challenges not found with hepatitis C — most notably cccDNA (or covalently closed circular DNA), the “mini- chromosome” produced by the hepatitis B virus. The cccDNA persists in the nucleus of the liver cell, where it can hide amidst the host’s own chromosomes, apparently out of reach of the cell’s own defense systems.

Acting like “an indestructible template,” cccDNA continues to produce virus particles throughout the life of the infected liver cell, even in people being treated with antiviral agents.

Hepatitis C, on the other hand, doesn’t enter the cell’s nucleus, so it’s possible to cure a person by stopping this virus from replicating long enough for the liver cells to regenerate.

But remember that people who have been “cured” of hepatitis C can still get re-infected,” Block cautions. The hepatitis C drugs apparently do not trigger an immune response that protects against re-infection.

In contrast, some people can be cured of hepatitis B, either naturally or through drug therapy. These individuals do seem to have long-term protective immunity. “And that’s what we are aiming for,” he declares.

Why We Need a Cure for Hepatitis B 

It can be argued that the approved antiviral agents are very successful in keeping the virus under control. So do we really need a cure? Definitely yes, Block replies emphatically.

Current antiviral drugs are effective, but need to be taken lifelong and are recommended for use in only about half of the infected population. And even after 10 years of use, the antivirals reduce HBV-related diseases by only about 50 to 60 percent. The drugs can also lead to the development of resistant hepatitis B strains (drug resistance).

For those who benefit from treatment, the antiviral drugs have been transformational and prove that medical intervention can be effective. However, there are millions who do not benefit and are still left vulnerable.

Clearly, new approaches to a “functional cure” are needed, which Block defines as “returning the risk of death due to hepatitis B to the level of someone who has a resolved infection.” And the person should not need to take any drugs to stay at this low-risk level.

Targeted Strategy for a Cure

The HBF/Blumberg Institute scientists, with their research partners from Drexel University College of Medicine, both located in the HBF’s Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, are developing two types of therapies: direct-acting antivirals and innate host defense activators. The first type inhibits virus-host interactions and viral gene products; the second recruits the host’s immune system to attack and eliminate cccDNA and infected liver cells.

For each of these approaches, the researchers have identified key steps to target in the hepatitis B infection cycle, from virus entry into the liver cell, to cccDNA replication, to formation of virus particles.

For many of these steps, “Our scientists have developed assays that can be used to screen for new drugs. We are a recognized leader in designing and developing these assays and, for a time, had the only cccDNA- dependent cell lines,” notes Block. Almost 100 different cell lines for assays have been developed that can be used to screen for drugs that activate the innate host defense pathways.

For drug screening, cell lines are incubated with potential drug candidates to try and find new therapeutic drugs for future hepatitis B treatment. The strategic goal is to discover new drugs that complement existing therapies, but also enable the immune system to provide long-lasting antiviral protection, even when the person is no longer on drug therapy.

The strategic goal is to discover new drugs that complement existing therapies, but also enable the immune system to provide long-lasting antiviral protection, even when the person is no longer on drug therapy.

Several compounds in development already show some effectiveness in animal models. “We have a capsid inhibitor, a pregenomic RNA capsid inhibitor (JT Guo), an HBsAg inhibitor (A Cuconati), a cccDNA repressor (H Guo, A Cuconati, JT Guo), and an activator of innate host defense pathways (J Chang and JT Guo),” Block reports.

He is particularly excited about their stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonist, which was very effective in mouse models. The research group is now working on a human STING agonist, although an appropriate assay for this compound still needs to be developed.

What the Future Holds 

“The Hepatitis B Foundation and its Blumberg Institute have contributed
to some of the most important work in studying the phases of the virus lifecycle that has led to the currently available drugs. Our researchers continue to be at the forefront in developing a promising pipeline for hepatitis B drug discovery,” says Block.

“I am absolutely confident that a cure is possible” he asserts. “After all, enough people with hepatitis B resolve their infections, either medically or spontaneously — even some people with chronic infections. So we know it’s possible.”

 

 

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute