Hepatitis B News and Research

Latest Hepatitis B News and Research

New study launched to more accurately diagnose early hepatocellular carcinoma

A first of its kind cohort study on patients at high risk of developing primary liver cancer also known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), has been launched to diagnose HCC more accurately at an earlier stage and to predict an individual's likelihood of developing the cancer.

3 May 2021

Vaccines can save lives and safeguard health and well-being

Effectively and safely protecting against disease--this is what makes vaccines a vital and successful public health tool that saves lives and safeguards health and well-being. Today, vaccines shield us from more than 20 life-threatening diseases.

30 Apr 2021

You don’t have to suffer to benefit from Covid vaccination — but some prefer it

If you think vaccination is an ordeal now, consider the 18th-century version. After having pus from a smallpox boil scratched into your arm, you would be subject to three weeks of fever, sweats, chills, bleeding and purging with dangerous medicines, accompanied by hymns, prayers and hell-fire sermons by dour preachers.

28 Apr 2021

Scientists design 'smart' cellular biosensors for detecting SARS-CoV-2 spike

New research led by Hana El-Samad of the University of California, San Francisco, and the Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub confirmed the beneficial use of an antiviral therapeutic called SARSNotch, which uses a combination of the SynNotch platform and de-novo designed protein binders. SARSNotch uses sentinel T cells to detect and mount a genetic response toward the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein.

28 Apr 2021

Disruptions to essential health services due to COVID-19 pandemic persist in 90% of countries

The second round of a World Health Organization "pulse survey" reveals that over one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial disruptions persist, with about 90% of countries still reporting one or more disruptions to essential health services, marking no substantial global change since the first survey conducted in the summer of 2020.

23 Apr 2021

Artificial intelligence helps identify new key-lock pairs against coronavirus

The human immune defense is based on the ability of white blood cells to accurately identify disease-causing pathogens and to initiate a defense reaction against them.

23 Apr 2021

Alpaca nanobodies effective against South African SARS-CoV-2 variant

Researchers in South Africa and the UK have identified alpaca-derived nanoantibodies that potently neutralize variants of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

13 Apr 2021

Infliximab may hinder the effectiveness of some COVID-19 vaccines

A new study reports reduced vaccine efficacy following the use of a single COVID-19 vaccine dose in people who are on the immunosuppressive monoclonal antibody Infliximab.

31 Mar 2021

Undocumented pregnant women in Finland receive inadequate prenatal care, study shows

Undocumented women in Finland access pregnancy care later than others. Yet, screening of infectious diseases at the early stages of pregnancy would be particularly important to these women, a new study carried out in Helsinki, Finland, shows.

18 Mar 2021

WHA’s president outlines plans to improve treatments for patients with hepatitis

Danjuma Adda, a Nigerian public health expert, became the president-elect of the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) in November last year. He is the first African to hold the position.

15 Mar 2021

Princeton researchers elucidate how hepatitis B virus establishes chronic infection

Researchers at Princeton have determined how five cellular proteins contribute to an essential step in the life cycle of hepatitis B virus (HBV).

11 Mar 2021

Simple blood test using nanoparticles could enable earlier detection of acute liver damage

University of Texas at Dallas chemist Dr. Jie Zheng has spent much of his career investigating gold nanoparticles for their potential impact in the field of nanomedicine.

10 Mar 2021

Obesity may reduce COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, say researchers

A startling indicates that obesity may reduce the immune response to the current COVID-19 vaccines, along with other factors like age and sex. This could have significant implications for vaccination strategies in obese people.

3 Mar 2021

Researchers review data related to high number of cancer deaths in China

The past century or so has seen unprecedented technological, scientific, and sociological evolution worldwide.

27 Feb 2021

GW team to play a role in Sanofi COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial

The George Washington University announced today its participation in a Sanofi COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. GW was selected as one of approximately 25 sites in the United States to launch a phase 2 study for its adjuvanted recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

24 Feb 2021

Researchers urge European policymakers to make adequate resources available to tackle pancreatic cancer

Researchers have called on European policymakers to make adequate resources available to tackle pancreatic cancer, a disease that is almost invariably fatal and where little progress has been made over the past 40 years.

21 Feb 2021

Novel SARS-CoV-2 vaccine utilizes recombinant spike protein with PIKA adjuvant

The primary aim of any vaccine is to stimulate immune functions and confer long-lasting protection. A paper recently uploaded to the preprint server bioRxiv by Tong et al. (17th Feb 2021) describes a novel vaccine utilizing PIKA adjuvant and recombinant spike proteins against COVID-19 disease that promises the generation of potent neutralization antibodies, which potentially support immune responses for years.

21 Feb 2021

COVID-19 and lung cancer have a common pathway, say researchers

A new preprint on the bioRxiv* server describes the common features COVID-19 shares with lung cancer.

19 Feb 2021

Novel gel electrophoresis method for MS-based quantification of protein biomarkers

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful method for biomarker analysis because it enables highly sensitive and accurate measurement of target molecules in clinical samples.

18 Feb 2021

RIG-1-like receptors may play dominant role in suppressing SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study by researchers at the University of Connecticut Health Center, USA, reports the crucial nature of the pathogen pattern recognition receptor (PRRs), especially the two RLRs, retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) and melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5), in triggering host cell immune responses within the cell. The RLRs are viral RNA sensors.

15 Feb 2021