Viral hepatitis B in EU regional setting: prevalence, risk factors and disease progression among migrants. (R-7234)

The eradication of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the next decades is unlikely to happen because the European Union is not a "closed system" due to the great impact of immigration. HBV is a truly global disease with an enormous worldwide reservoir of 350 million infected persons. Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infections are thereby at risk of silently progressing to liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver failure in 15-40% of cases. Progression of CHB to cirrhosis and HCC is determined by genetic characteristics of the host, as well as by viral and environmental factors. However, ethnic differences in CHB are understudied and may contribute to a greater understanding of the transmission route and progression of CHB. Therefore, this doctoral thesis aims to study the prevalence, risk factors, transmission route and disease progression among migrants in three EU regional centers with different health care systems. It focus is on first- and second-generation immigrants compared to the native populations. The obtained knowledge would permit better health policy strategies for the prevention and promotion of betterdefined treatment strategies for patients, offspring and kin. This PhD research will also attribute to important healthcare information as the people in this EU regional University area will travel to many places around the world with the danger to infect other people and to attain too little medical attention that could lead to severe liver disease after 20-30 years.

Keywords:IMMUNE THERAPY

Disciplines:Immunology