School of Medicine Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2026
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a leading global cause of advanced liver disease and imposes a substantial economic burden. Early prevention is critical, as perinatally acquired HBV carries a high risk of progression to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatitis B vaccination has been proven effective in preventing cancer, yet coverage of the complete vaccine series remains suboptimal. This implementation gap perpetuates the clinical burden, manifesting decades later as hepatic decompensation and liver cancer. This narrative review synthesizes the current HBV landscape, highlighting how gaps in vaccination policy and delivery contribute to real-world gastrointestinal outcomes. By reframing HBV vaccination as a core component of gastrointestinal and hepatology practice, clinicians can play a pivotal role in preventing cirrhosis and HCC while improving population health.
Recommended Citation
Nwabueze, C., Omeludike, E., Lawal, R., & Nwabueze, K. (2026). Hepatitis B in the vaccine era: persistent burden and clinical implications. Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research, 15(3), 187. https://doi.org/10.7774/cevr.2026.15.e18
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Publication Title
Clinical and experimental vaccine research
DOI
10.7774/cevr.2026.15.e18
Academic Level
faculty
Mentor/PI Department
Internal Medicine
Comments
© Korean Society for Zoonoses. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.