The dawn of a new era: Transforming our domestic response to hepatitis B & C

Our understanding of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections has improved in recent years. Safe and effective vaccines for HBV as well as effective antiviral therapies for HBV and HCV infections are now available. However, current approaches to the prevention and control of chronic HBV and HCV infections have fallen short, resulting in a major public health problem. The prevalence of chronic HBV and HCV infections is expected to increase in the United States, as is the burden of hepatitis-associated cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, and liver cancer. The time to develop new strategies to prevent, screen, and treat chronic viral hepatitis is now.