Management of chronic hepatitis B infection: an update

Almost 43 million people in India are harbouring hepatitis B virus (HBV) in their blood. Chronic HBV infection may be with or without sign/symptom of liver disease. Children are more prone to suffer from chronic HBV infection compared to adults and adolescents. Treatment aims at prevention of its sequelae namely cirrhosis and subsequent hepatocellular carcinoma. At the moment two major groups of agents are available for treatment. These are (a) immunomodulators and (b) antivirals. Present research aims at identification of a suitable agent to act on HBV covalently closed circular DNA persisting in hepatic cells for complete eradication of HBV.