Running head: HEPATITIS
1
Hepatitis
Marcella Gatti
Microbiology
July 10, 2019
Jinghai Wen
HEPATITIS
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Abstract
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by viruses
, bacteria, fungi, and parasitic
organisms or noninfectious
by the use of some drugs, alcohol and as well as autoimmune,
metabolic and genetic diseases. In some cases, it is a silent disease that do not present symptoms.
Viral hepatitis are inflammations caused by viruses that are classified by letters of the alphabet in
A, B, C, D and E.
This text will be focuses on viral hepatitis, which accounts for more than 50%
of cases of acute hepatitis in the United States, primarily in the emergency department setting.
Millions of Americans are living with viral hepatitis, and most don’t know they have the virus;
3.5 million people are estimated to be living with hepatitis C in the United States. The actual
number may be as high as 4.7 million or as low as 2.5 million; 850,000 people in the U.S. are
estimated to be living with hepatitis B. The actual number may be as high as 2.2 million or as
low as 730,000.
We are going to be able to understand and differentiate all types of hepatitis virus A, B, C, D, E,
mode of transition, methods of prevention and what types of treatment are available recently.
HEPATITIS
3
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a general term referring to inflammation of the liver, may result from various
causes, both infectious ( viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic organisms) and noninfectious
(
alcohol
, drugs,
autoimmune diseases
, and metabolic diseases). In the United States, viral
hepatitis is most commonly caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and
hepatitis C virus (HCV). These three viruses can all result in acute disease with symptoms of
nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue, malaise, and jaundice. Acute infection with HBV and HCV can
lead to chronic infection. Patients who are infected may develop
cirrhosis
and
hepatocellular
carcinoma
(HCC).
(Wasley & Grytdal, 2008). Chronic hepatitis people remain infectious and
may transmit the disease for many years. (Previsani & Lavanchy, 2002)
Other hepatotropic viruses known to cause hepatitis include
hepatitis D virus
(HDV) and
hepatitis E virus
(HEV). Infrequent causes of viral hepatitis include adenovirus, cytomegalovirus
(CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and, rarely, herpes simplex virus (HSV). Persons with acute
hepatitis C may be either symptomatic or asymptomatic. Typical symptoms of acute hepatitis are
fatigue, anorexia, nausea, and vomiting. Very high aminotransferase values (>1000 U/L) and
hyperbilirubinemia are often observed. Severe cases of acute hepatitis may cause acute liver
failure. Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is defined as acute liver failure that is complicated by
hepatic encephalopathy which leads to brain-cell swelling. The resulting brain edema is a
potentially fatal complication of fulminant hepatic failure. (Terrault & Bzowej, 2016)
