And children infected before they turn seven are more than twice as likely to become carriers than those who catch HBV when they are older. Yet an effective vaccine has been available since the early 1980s. Most of us still don't know enough about HBV and its possible consequences. More often than not, we tend to confuse it with type A, says Dr. Lai Ching-lung of the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. Less than half the people in the SAR, for example, can differentiate between types A and B, notes Lai, an authority on hepatitis.
Sufferers can also infect others through close contact and poor personal hygiene.
But the therapy is far from satisfactory. For one thing, interferon isn't as effective for Asians as for Caucasians. Doctors have had more success with newer anti-viral drugs like lamivudine. The problem is patients develop resistance over time. Because people are the main reservoir of HBV, Dr. Chan Kin-ling of the Hong Kong College of Family Physicians argues that communities must be taught to reduce their chances of infecting others.