Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 May;90(5):786-795.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.25027. Epub 2018 Feb 5.

What is changed in HBV molecular epidemiology in Italy?

Alessia Lai  1 , Caterina Sagnelli  2 , Alessandra L Presti  3 , Eleonora Cella  4 , Silvia Angeletti  4 , Silvia Spoto  5 , Sebastiano Costantino  5 , Evangelista Sagnelli  2 , Massimo Ciccozzi  4
Affiliations
Free article
Review

What is changed in HBV molecular epidemiology in Italy?

Alessia Lai et al. J Med Virol. 2018 May.
Free article

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection represents the most common cause of chronic liver diseases worldwide. Consequently, to the introduction of the universal HBV vaccination program, the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen was markedly reduced and less than 1% of the population of Western Europe and North America is chronically infected. To date, despite great advances in therapeutics, HBV chronic infection is considered an incurable disease. Ten hepatitis B virus genotypes (A-J) and several subgenotypes have been identified so far, based on intergroup divergences of 8% and 4%, respectively, in the complete viral genome. HBV-D genotype has been found throughout the world, with highest prevalence in the Mediterranean area. In the present review, several articles concerning HBV epidemiology, and phylogeny in Italy have been analyzed, mainly focusing on the changes occurred in the last decade.

Keywords: epidemiology; evolution; hepatitis B virus.

PubMed Disclaimer