<P> The road to the hepatitis B vaccine began in 1963 when American physician / geneticist Baruch Blumberg discovered what he called the `` Australia Antigen '' ( now called HBsAg ) in the serum of an Australian Aboriginal person . In 1968 , this protein was found to be part of the virus that causes `` serum hepatitis '' ( hepatitis B) by virologist Alfred Prince . The American microbiologist / vaccinologist Maurice Hilleman at Merck used three treatments ( pepsin , urea and formaldehyde ) of blood serum together with rigorous filtration to yield a product that could be used as a safe vaccine . Hilleman hypothesized that he could make an HBV vaccine by injecting patients with hepatitis B surface protein . In theory , this would be very safe , as these excess surface proteins lacked infectious viral DNA . The immune system , recognizing the surface proteins as foreign , would manufacture specially shaped antibodies , custom - made to bind to , and destroy , these proteins . Then , in the future , if the patient were infected with HBV , the immune system could promptly deploy protective antibodies , destroying the viruses before they could do any harm . </P>
<P> The road to the hepatitis B vaccine began in 1963 when American physician / geneticist Baruch Blumberg discovered what he called the `` Australia Antigen '' ( now called HBsAg ) in the serum of an Australian Aboriginal person . In 1968 , this protein was found to be part of the virus that causes `` serum hepatitis '' ( hepatitis B) by virologist Alfred Prince . The American microbiologist / vaccinologist Maurice Hilleman at Merck used three treatments ( pepsin , urea and formaldehyde ) of blood serum together with rigorous filtration to yield a product that could be used as a safe vaccine . Hilleman hypothesized that he could make an HBV vaccine by injecting patients with hepatitis B surface protein . In theory , this would be very safe , as these excess surface proteins lacked infectious viral DNA . The immune system , recognizing the surface proteins as foreign , would manufacture specially shaped antibodies , custom - made to bind to , and destroy , these proteins . Then , in the future , if the patient were infected with HBV , the immune system could promptly deploy protective antibodies , destroying the viruses before they could do any harm . </P>
who invented the first vaccine for hepatitis b
who invented the first vaccine for hepatitis b
Maurice Hilleman
Maurice Hilleman