Viral hepatitis

The Hepatitis Delta neglected pandemic

Hepatitis is now a hot topic, due to the recent severe cases of liver inflammation in children between 1 month and 16 years of age in different countries. The first (and more numerous) cases have been reported in the United Kingdom, but also in Italy, Spain, Romania, United States, Israel, and other EU countries. TheContinue reading “The Hepatitis Delta neglected pandemic”

Do you know that every year 1.4 million people worldwide die of viral hepatitis? It is one death every 30 seconds. World Hepatitis Day takes place every year on July 28 (the day Baruch Bloomberg, the discoverer of Hepatitis B virus, was born) to raise awareness on this disease. Five viruses cause hepatitis: HBV eContinue reading “Viral Hepatitis”

HCV: a virus able to elude the immune system

The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) was discovered in the 80s thanks to the work of Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice, who jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020. Before that, two other viruses called Hepatitis A virus and Hepatitis B virus (HAV, HBV) were known to infectContinue reading “HCV: a virus able to elude the immune system”

The most common chronic viral infection

Viral infections can be classifed into acute or chronic. In the case of an acute infection, the virus survives in the host for a limited period of time before being cleared; if the virus persists in its host, the infection becomes chronic. Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the most common worldwide, with 468Continue reading “The most common chronic viral infection”