Why was the Hepatitis B vaccine an important discovery?
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. Sometimes, the virus cause a long-term infection. Over time, it can damage the liver. It can cause scarring of the organ, liver failure, and cancer. Hepatitis B can be fatal if isn't treated. The disease spreads when people come in contact with the blood, open sores, or body fluids of someone who has the virus.
The Hepatitis B virus was discovered in 1965 by Dr. Baruch Blumberg who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery. Four years after discovering the virus, Blumberg and his associate, a microbiologist named Millman developed the first Hepatitis B vaccine.
Many improvement were made on the original vaccine. It is now given to babies as soon as they are born, to give them lifelong protection againdt the disease.