Hepatitis

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Hepatitis B and C claimed 1.3 million lives in 2024, WHO reports

An estimated 1.1 million people died from hepatitis B and 240,000 from hepatitis C in 2024.

Stephanie Soucheray

End of universal birth-dose hep B vaccination will drive up infections, deaths, costs, researchers say

Misalignment between new CDC recommendations and healthcare organizations creates vaccine implementation challenges for providers, a commentator says.

Mary Van Beusekom
Baby girl

Less than half of US infants exposed to hepatitis C are tested, and fewer are treated

Of those exposed in utero or at birth, only 42% were tested, but that rate dropped to 32% by the end of the study period.

Mary Van Beusekom
Woman holding newborn in hospital

Hepatitis C is curable, yet only 1 in 3 patients receive antiviral drugs, study estimates

Prescribing is substantially below the estimated 260,000 annual treatment courses needed to achieve US elimination targets. 

Mary Van Beusekom
Woman talking with doctor about hepatitis

Danish university places hold on controversial hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau

The University of Southern Denmark has placed a “full hold” on a heavily criticized clinical trial of the hepatitis B vaccine in Guinea-Bissau owing to ethical concerns. 

Liz Szabo

US surgeon general nominee dodges vaccine questions in Senate hearing

Means defended removing the newborn dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from the childhood immunization schedule. 

Stephanie Soucheray

Guinea-Bissau officials stop CDC-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial

The country's foreign minister told Reuters the controversial trial is "not going to happen."

Chris Dall

Birth-dose hepatitis B vaccination rates plunged more than 10 percentage points in past 2 years, study suggests

Rates climbed from 68% in January 2017 to a peak of 84% in February 2023 before dropping to 73% by August 2025. 

Mary Van Beusekom
Hepatitis B vaccine birth dose

Oregon tracks decline in newborn hepatitis B vaccination

Up to 90% of infants infected with hepatitis B at birth develop chronic liver infections.

Stephanie Soucheray

WHO criticizes CDC-funded vaccine study in Africa as unethical

The study involves hepatitis B vaccination in Guinea-Bissau, where nearly one in five people are chronically infected with the virus.

Liz Szabo
Portrait of a baby girl in pink dress sitting on her mother's lap, in the Bissaque neighborhood in the city of Bissau, Guinea Bissau.

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