Hepatitis B is caused by a virus that infects the liver, causing disease that can lead to a deadly cancer. The World Health Organization calls hepatitis B a serious global public health problem. Many people who have it, even in the United States, are completely unaware they are infected.

“Am I going to die" I have no future.” “I feel depressed at times, fearful I may not see my children marry or be a grandparent.” Such heart-rending statements from patients with chronic hepatitis B reveal the social and mental impact of this disease, which affects 350 million worldwide.

Treating hepatitis B patients with the drug entecavir can cause those who are also infected with HIV to become resistant to two of the most important drugs in the anti-HIV arsenal, according to a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Many patients with chronic hepatitis B are deficient in their understanding of the lifelong disease and often do not comply with the drug regimens necessary to control it, according to a new UCLA survey that suggests improved patient involvement in disease management decisions could be the key to fixing this problem.

Blood Diagnostics, Inc. (BDI), one of the leading distributors of recombinant and plasma-derived pharmaceutical products, on May 18th announced immediate availability of HepaGam B, the first intravenous hepatitis B immune globulin approved by the FDA.