Hepatitis B Viral Genotyping with the Research INNO-LiPA HBV Genotyping Line Probe Assay

Hepatitis B continues to remain one of mankind’s major infectious scourges, causing considerable morbidity and mortality. It has been estimated that no less than one-third of all individuals alive today have been infected at some time with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Of the estimated 350 million people (6% of the world’s population) who fail to resolve the disease and become chronic HBV carriers, up to one-third will inevitably develop progressive, life-threatening liver disease. However, the impact of HBV-related disease is not geographically uniform. Prevalence rates vary from less than 2% in Western Europe and North America, to 2–7% in Southern and Eastern Europe, and to more than 8% in Asia, Africa, and the Western Pacific (1 ).