The Hepatitis B Story (Chinese version, 2000-2001)

Summary: Although hepatitis had been recognized for centuries, it was in the 1940s when doctors came to suspect that a virus carried in human blood was responsible. The breakthrough came from a study in which researchers were looking for immune reactions to foreign proteins in the blood of patients who had received many transfusions. Researchers explored why some patients who received blood transfusions developed fevers, chills, or rashes. They examined the response of the patient’s antibodies against foreign proteins and found a protein that reacted extremely rarely with the antibodies. They suspected it was caused by an infectious agent, antigen Aa, rather than by genetic variation in human blood. Mounting evidence convinced everyone that Aa was part of the virus that caused hepatitis B. The medical community recognized that they could reduce the incidence of hepatitis by testing the blood for the virus. Scientists developed an accurate test which is now used routinely. Scientists later found that an effective vaccine could be made from subunits of the virus. The hepatitis B vaccine also is promising for preventing deaths from liver cancer.