Hepatitis B

  My Aunt was recently diagnosed with hepatitis B.
  She lives in a third world country, and i am concerned as to
  whether or not she is getting the right treatment. My question is
  What kind of treatment does a hepatitis B patient need, and is
  B type curable?

[HFHSM.D.-D.M.]

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Dear Mosaab:
I appreciate your concern about your mother and I appreciate your questions.  It really gives me an opportunity to talk about hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B can be complex in that not all hepatitis B infections are the same in all individuals.  They vary in whether treatment is necessary and in their likelihood of responding to different therapies.  Typically, the first thing we do is to try to determine if the virus is replicating (making new virus)  and whether the virus is causing significant damage to the liver.  We have a variety of ways to get at this information but we usually start with blood tests.  We would also want to know if your mother obtained hepatitis B as an infant or whether she obtained it as an adult.  Once we have all that information, we can decide if treatment is indicated, whether it is necessary and what is the best treatment available.  
The two available forms of treatment are interferon, a medication that is injected, and lamivudine which is taken by mouth.  The interferon has significant side effects but is capable of curing the infection in up to 50% of appropriate patients.  Interferon has significant side effects, however.   The lamivudine is well tolerated and does a good job of suppressing the virus but usually does not cure the infection.  Again, the choice of medications varies with each individual and each infection.  
I am sorry that I cannot be more specific but it is important that I be honest.  We really need more information before I can tell you what should be done.  I would point out that reasonable care is usually available in the developing world though often one has to travel to find it.  Certainly, I would anticipate there are thoughtful, knowledgeable physicians who could at least start your mother