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Hepatitis B virus (HBV)
HBV infects liver cells and can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis. Chronic infection can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. It has a unique replication strategy using reverse transcriptase despite being a DNA virus. The HBV vaccine was the world's first vaccine to prevent cancer.
Discovered in 1965 (antigen), 1970 (virus) by Baruch Blumberg (USA) — Nobel Prize 1976
Blood, sexual contact, mother-to-child (perinatal), contaminated needles, tattooing
Tenofovir, Entecavir (nucleos(t)ide analogues), Pegylated interferon-alpha. Chronic infection not fully curable but manageable
HBV vaccine (3-dose series, >95% effective — first anti-cancer vaccine), screening blood supply, safe injection practices
The Hepatitis B vaccine was the first vaccine to prevent a type of cancer — chronic HBV causes ~80% of all liver cancer cases worldwide!
Surface protein used for diagnosis — the first hepatitis B marker discovered
Outer lipid membrane containing three forms of surface antigen (S, M, L)
Icosahedral capsid made of 240 copies of core protein
Secreted form of core protein — marker of active viral replication
Reverse transcriptase that converts RNA intermediate back to DNA — unique for a DNA virus
~3,200 base pairs of relaxed circular DNA — smallest genome of any known human DNA virus