Hepatitis vaccines: Recent advances.

2003 SEP 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research published in the International Journal for Parasitology, "Despite the availability of hepatitis A vaccines that might provide protection for decades, hepatitis B vaccines that provides protection for at least 15 years and the recent introduction of a combined hepatitis A and B vaccine, these infections continue to spread in both the developed and developing world."

"Hepatitis A vaccine coverage has been limited to high-risk groups: such a selective immunization policy is unlikely to have a major impact," said Raymond S. Koff at the University of Connecticut and Roche Laboratories, Inc. in the United States. "If adequate immunogenicity in infants is confirmed, dosing schedules can be improved and the costs of vaccination reduced, universal pediatric immunization with combined hepatitis A and B products is likely to result in the eventual eradication of these infections. In the interim, novel hepatitis A vaccines are being investigated and additional studies on hepatitis A vaccine immunogenicity in infants are in progress."

"Worldwide use of hepatitis B vaccines for the newborn, young children and high-risk groups should control this infection and obviate the need for a vaccine against hepatitis D," stated Koff. "Newer hepatitis B vaccines that may reduce the likelihood of non-responsiveness and have immunotherapeutic value are under study. A recombinant hepatitis E vaccine for use in endemic regions is currently in clinical trials."

"The development of an ...