Recombivax-HB: perspectives past, present and future.

Hepatitis B disease has caused a heavy burden worldwide. The development of an immunogenic, efficacious and safe vaccine to combat this problem has already eased this burden to some extent. The incorporation of the vaccine into the infant and childhood immunization schedule has led to a decrease in the number of new hepatitis B cases reported each year, and there has been a significant decline in hepatocellular carcinoma in children. This implies that the future will see less hepatitis B disease as the infant and adolescent population that has been immunized ages, meaning that the disease burden should fall even further.