Cuba's vaccine against hepatitis B has proved effective in several countries around the world

Havana, July 28 (RHC) Cuba today celebrates World Hepatitis Day with the nationally produced vaccine called HeberNasvac, which has already demonstrated its effectiveness in several countries around the world.

The immunogen against hepatitis B was used in South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and Hong Kong, with a positive impact on the subjects treated, a fact that allowed it to receive the endorsement of their respective regulatory authorities.

In 80 percent of people, the presence of the virus in the blood had a considerable decrease, to less than 10,000 particles per milliliter. This implies that, although the patient remains infected, the risk of suffering complications such as fibrosis, whose final result can be cirrhosis and liver cancer, decreases.

Even five years after the vaccine was administered, 80 percent of individuals maintain controlled viral load and in 50 percent it is not detectable.

HeberNasvac -which has the collaboration of the French company Abivax- received recognition for its effectiveness in the therapy of hepatitis B, at the Annual Congress of the American Society of Liver Diseases.

This immunogen, whose scheme in Cuba consists of nasal administration, combined with the subcutaneous route, is not only effective but highly safe, with very few adverse reactions, and an administration period of five months, much shorter than that of interferon, administered for a year and antivirals, necessary for life.

The decrease in the incidence of hepatitis B in Cuba implies that it is not considered a health problem, and that the country aspires to its total elimination by 2030, in line with the aspiration of the World Health Organization.

According to the medical literature, hepatitis is an infection that causes acute inflammation in the liver. There are five different viruses, each one cataloged with a letter of the alphabet and the further away from A it is, the greater the risk it carries. In most cases, inflammation of the liver begins suddenly and only lasts a few weeks.

The most common way to contract this disease is by inserting into the body an object contaminated with the blood of someone who already has the virus. These events often occur in people who are tattooed, pierced, have multiple sexual partners, or share needles to inject drugs.

According to the World Health Organization, 57 percent of cases of liver cirrhosis and 78 percent of primary liver cancer are caused by hepatitis B and C viruses. (Source: PL)