Year: 1990
Type: article
Abstract: Hepatitis viruses that are neither hepatitis A virus (HAV) nor hepatitis B virus (HBV) account for approximately 25% of clinical hepatitis world-wide and this may exceed 50% in regions where they are endemic.Three such non-A, non-B (NANB) viruses are known to exist: a) the principal cause of transfusion-associated hepatitis, b) hepatitis delta virus and c) enterically-transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis virus.It has been proposed that these be called hepatitis C virus, hepatitis D virus and hepatitis E virus.Hepatitis C virus appears to have a world-wide distribution.It is said to account for approximately 50% of clinical hepatitis in Japan and approximately 25% in the United States.HCV is epidemiologically similar to HBV (See 1 and 2).It is transmitted by blood, blood products or objects contaminated with blood and is at present the primary cause of transfusion-associated hepatitis, accounting for 90-95% of such disease in developed countries.It is endemic among hemophiliacs and users of illicit parenteral drugs, although recently introduced measures to inactivate viruses in clotting factor should protect the latter group in the future.Unlike HBV, HCV appears to be relatively poorly transmitted by the sexual or maternal-infant routes.As with HBV, a significant (but somewhat smaller) proportion of cases have no epidemiologically identifiable source suggesting that the virus is transmitted from person to person by as yet unrecognized means.This is further suggested by evidence that the carrier rate for HCV in some blood donor populations may be approximately 1%, five to ten
Source: Kanzo
DOI: 10.2957/kanzo.31.111
Author: Robert H. Purcell
Language: Japanese
Topic: Hepatitis C virus research
Subfield: Hepatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4250442271