Method: We also considered eight VEMs (
C139S,
S/T140I,
P142S,
S/T143L/M,
D144A/E/G/N,
G145A/E/R,
K141A/I/R and
C147S) which are located within the epitope region neutralized by the HBV vaccine (aa139-147).
Result: However, four sequences (KF214668, KF214671, KF214673 and KF214676) with RAM
I269L and one sequence (KF214659) with VEM
S/T143M were sampled from Asia in 1963, and one sequence (HQ700441) with RAM
L180M was sampled from Oceania in 1984, demonstrating that relevant mutations can arise without exposure to treatment or vaccinatio