Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a recently discovered disease. Harvey J. Alter identified the variant form of Hepatitis during the 70s, which then became known as a ‘non-A, non-B Hepatitis (NANBH)’. In the 1980s, Michael Houghton and his team isolated the genome of the new virus, and it was named ‘Hepatitis C’. Finally, in 1997 Charles M. Rice proved that the virus is a disease agent, capable of acting alone to cause Hepatitis. This year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine has been jointly awarded to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of the virus. Their contributions (illustrated below) have led to improved understanding, prevention, and treatment of the disease.     5 types of Hepatitis There are five known types of viral Hepatitis – A, B, C, D, and E –  of which types A and B and E are currently preventable by vaccines.  Over 71 million cases of chronic Hepatitis C infection were estimated in 2015, though that number has been steadily falling over the past decade. The majority of deaths are caused by liver cancer or cirrhosis brought on by the infection, with an estimated 399,000 fatal cases in 2016. To learn more about the differences between Hepatitis A, B, and C, see our earlier blog here. Diagnosis and treatment Hepatitis C can often be asymptomatic, or associated with mild symptoms, and may smolder for up to six months before becoming active. Acute infections are associated with fatigue, nausea, fever, abdominal pain, and...
Source: GIDEON blog - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Epidemiology News Source Type: blogs