In the early 1960s Blumberg was examining blood samples from widely
diverse populations in an attempt to determine why the members of different
ethnic and national groups vary widely in their responses and susceptibility
to disease. In 1963 he discovered in the blood serum of an Australian
aborigine an antigen that he later (1967) determined to be part of a
virus that causes hepatitis B, the most severe form of hepatitis. The
discovery of this so-called Australian antigen, which causes the body
to produce antibody responses to the virus, made it possible to screen
blood donors for possible hepatitis B transmission. Further research
indicated that the body's development of antibody against the Australian
antigen was protective against further infection with the virus itself.
In 1969 Blumberg and Millman applied for a patent for the vaccine, which
was granted in the United States and other countries in the early 1970s.
In 1982 a safe and effective vaccine utilizing Australian antigen was
made commercially available in the United States.
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