7
Hepatitis B virus infects the liver and causes an inflammation called hepatitis. It is a DNA virus and one of many unrelated viruses that cause viral hepatitis. The disease was originally known as “serum hepatitis” and has caused epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa. Symptoms of the acute illness caused by the virus include liver inflammation, vomiting, jaundice, and rarely, death. Chronic hepatitis B may eventually cause liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, a fatal disease with very poor response to current chemotherapy. The infection is preventable by vaccination.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious disease that is caused by Hepatitis C virus (HCV), infecting the liver. The infection can cause liver inflammation (hepatitis) that is often asymptomatic, but ensuing chronic hepatitis can result later in cirrhosis (fibrotic scarring of the liver) and liver cancer.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact. No vaccine against hepatitis C is available. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed, and a proportion of patients can be cleared of the virus by a long course of anti-viral medicines. For more information about Hepatitis and the campaigns that are running to help awareness of the disease please visit http://www.aminumber12.org
Leave a Reply