Tropical Medicine & Surgery

Abstract

Hepatitis B Virus: Can it be a Vector-Borne Transmitted Infection?

Hanan Abdulghafoor Khaleel

The question of whether hepatitis B virus could be a vector-borne transmitted infection was around in the scientific field since the 1949. The majority of the studies agreed that Hepatitis B virus could be found in the bedbugs for a longer period of time than in the mosquitoes. Moreover, there was evidence that certain species of mosquitoes could transmit hepatitis B virus to animals leading to immunity; however, this did not reflect their ability to transmit the virus to humans because it was done under experimental conditions and on a small number of animals.

Given the great recent advance in the laboratory techniques, more research about this subject needs to be done to identify whether vector-borne transmission of hepatitis B virus can explain the hepatitis B cases with no apparent cause of infection.