Targeting the Functional Cure: The Journey of HBV from Transmission to Therapeutic Vaccines

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection affects 262 million people worldwide, leading to over 820,000 deaths annually. The reason HBV has been a persistent issue for decades is that it is a non-cytopathic, liver-specific virus  with the ability for persistent infection, which cannot be completely eliminated by drugs, eventually progressing to  cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Although HBV seems to induce little innate immue activation, adaptive immune responses can mediate viral clearance and liver disease. This review aims to provide an overview of HBV epidemiology, transmission, immunopathogenesis, current treatment strategies and recent advances in therapeutic vaccine development. It further explores the challenges and future directions toward achieving a functional cure and strengthening global HBV control. Methodology: This review to published studies and articles by using PubMed and Google. Search strategy using appropriate keywords and title. Conclusion: Therapeutic vaccines are a very promissing immunotherapy strategy in the treatment of hepatitis B. IAHS Medical Journal Vol 9(1), June 2026;114-117