[German guidelines on diagnosis and therapy of hepatitis B]

Abstract

Therapeutic option for hepatitis B virus infection have significantly improved in recent years. Moreover, new insights in the natural history of hepatitis B required an update of current national guidelines. Therefore, the German network of competence on viral hepatitis (Hep-Net) has revised guidelines on diagnosis and treatment og HBV incetion in cooperation with the national societies for Gastroenterology, Pathology, Virology, and Pediatric Gastroenterology. Important alterations concern the indication for antiviral therapy considering an HBV viremia of 104 copies/ml (2000 IU/ml) as a critical level. Moreover, specific recommendations how to prevent and to treat antiviral drug resistance are given. Finally, the importance of HBV in the context of organ and bone marrow transplantation, treatment of coinfections and children and prophylaxis of HBV is covered.