SeminarHepatitis C
Section snippets
Epidemiology
Infection with HCV occurs worldwide, with the prevalence of antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) in serum in most developed countries ranging between 1% and 2%. Significantly higher rates of infection have been found in parts of eastern Europe and Africa,2 while Egypt seems to have one of the highest prevalence rates of all, approaching 15% of the general population. In the USA, for example, approximately 0·5% of volunteer blood donors are anti-HCV positive, while among a random sample of the general
The virus
The hepatitis C virus is an RNA virus of the flavivirus family, which includes other human pathogens such as dengue fever and yellow fever as well as agents that cause disease in animals such as hog cholera virus and bovine viral diarrhoea virus.7 The recently described GBV agents (including GBV-C or hepatitis G virus) are also flaviviruses related to HCV but do not seem to cause significant liver disease in humans.8 Studies of HCV have been hampered by the lack of a readily available cell
Clinical manifestations and natural history
Perhaps one reason why hepatitis C remained obscure for as long as it did is that it is so often a clinically silent infection. Most patients with acute infection are symptomfree and only a small proportion become jaundiced.11 Chronic HCV infection may be associated with vague, non-specific symptoms such as fatigue, joint aching, and discomfort in the right-upper quadrant but it is usually only when complications of chronic liver disease or extrahepatic manifestations occur that patients
Diagnosis of hepatitis C
HCV infection is diagnosed primarily by the presence of anti-HCV in serum. There are several very sensitive enzyme-linked immunoassays available for the detection of anti-HCV based on the use of recombinant viral proteins in a microtitre plate or bead format.21 These assays make use of viral proteins in combination that have been shown to have strong epitopes, including a portion of the core protein (c22), NS2 (c33c), NS3/4 (c-200), and in more recent versions an NS5 peptide. Despite several
Management of chronic hepatitis C
At present, alpha interferon is the most widely accepted form of therapy for chronic hepatitis C. The use of interferon is often associated with a decrease in serum aminotransferase activities and a decline in HCV RNA, often to undetectable levels.24, 26 In many cases though, when interferon is stopped, aminotransferases and HCV RNA promptly return to pretreatment levels. The optimal response is defined by persistently normal serum aminotransferase concentrations and absence of HCV RNA from
Conclusions
HCV is a recently described blood-borne infectious agent that is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality from chronic liver disease. It has a great propensity to become a chronic infection. Although it is usually an indolent or slowly progressive disease, factors that may be associated with an accelerated course include alcohol consumption and older age at infection. The detection of anti-HCV is usually sufficient to diagnose HCV infection, but occasionally supplementary tests such
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2013, Archives of Medical ResearchCitation Excerpt :It is reported more often in higher frequency zones such as Eastern Europe and Africa. Di Biseglie (2) reported a prevalence of ∼15% of the population in Egypt, one of the highest in the world. Africa, as a whole, has differing HCV prevalence rates based upon region.
Geographical variation in hepatitis C-related severe liver disease and patient risk factors: A multicentre cross-sectional study
2023, Epidemiology and InfectionEstimating the number of injecting drug users in Scotland's HCV-diagnosed population using capture-recapture methods
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