Over a million people every year die as a consequence of hepatitis B, with some 400 million people chronically infected. Asia and Africa have the most sufferers. There are some 200 million people chronically affected by HCV worldwide, most of them in the industrial world.

One major problem with hepatitis B, caused by HBV, is that this disease can develop into chronic hepatitis B, which in turn, may result in liver failure and/or cancer of the liver. In China, over 100 million people are estimated to suffer from chronic hepatitis B.

Hepatitis B is exceptionally contagious and spread via blood. Extremely small amounts of virus are enough to cause infection. The virus can also spread through other body fluids.
Hepatitis viruses infect the liver, compromising its ability to eliminate toxic substances, and those that cannot be eliminated are re-circulated in the blood, finally causing jaundice, the yellow pigmentation of the skin and eyes.

Although there are HBV vaccines available, they only function on people who are not infected. There are two approved HBV drugs, interferon – which influences the immune system but gives rise to significant side-effects – and lamivudine, which functions well, but eventually causes resistance.
Scientists are observing the same type of resistance development as in HIV, albeit occurring slightly more slowly. Indeed, there are several similarities with HIV – both viruses are flexible, adapting constantly and using their own polymerase to reproduce. The similarity also means that some drugs used against HIV, may be effective against HBV.

HBV researchers agree that a combination treatment against the disease is imperative, similar to that used against HIV, to circumvent resistance development and achieve enhanced efficacy.

Collaborating against Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C, caused by HCV (the hepatitis C virus) has an estimated 200 million carriers worldwide, and is also highly contagious. The majority of its carriers are in the industrial world, with most infected through blood transfusions. A person infected with HCV may suffer from the chronic disease, which eventually, can cause liver failure and cirrhosis of the liver. However the course of the illness is slow.

HCV is another readily changeable virus, which will imply problems during the development of pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
There are two usable pharmaceuticals at present, one being interferon and the other ribavirin, both of which have severe side-effects. Although there is room for more drugs, producing them is far from easy. HCV is hard to work on – many other major corporations have attempted for many years, as long as HCV has been known, but so far, with little success. HCV cannot be raised in cell cultures, and there are no model systems.