Viral Hepatitis. Second International Max von Pettenkofer Symposium

In October 1982, virologists, molecular biologists, epidemiologists, diagnosticians, oncologists, and pathologists from around the world gathered in Munich, West Germany, for the Second International Max von Pettenkofer Symposium on Viral Hepatitis. The purpose of this meeting was to focus on the common interests of clinicians and laboratory investigators in the ever-burgeoning discipline of viral hepatitis research. Summaries of the 66 papers that were presented at the meeting appear in this small volume. The papers are very brief and are published under twelve major headings which include, among others: pathology, characterization and propagation of hepatitis viruses, molecular biology of hepatitis viruses, epidemiology of non-A, non-B hepatitis and delta agent, HBV and primary liver cell carcinoma, treatment, and immune prophylaxis. Most of the summaries are three to five pages in length and include a few tables, figures, and a handful of relevant references. Viewed in toto, these precis provide an excellent overview of work being done in this rapidly progressing field of virology. Each mini-paper provides nuggets of compressed and highly predigested information. Obviously, the reader would have to do some research of his own in order to flesh out any particular subject of interest. Nevertheless, it is staggering to regard the work that has been done in the past several years. For example, hepatitis A now grows in cell culture and has been cloned. The hepatitis B virus and its genome are well-characterized, its nucleotides have been sequenced, its genome has been mapped, and the amino acid sequences of some of its gene products have been determined. Noninfectious hepatitis B vaccines are on the market, and newer vaccines, produced by cloning the genome in proor eukaryotic cells or by constructing synthetic polypeptides, are being developed. More is being learned about the startling association between hepatitis B and primary hepatocellular carcinoma and about the delta agent, a defective RNA virus. Non-A, non-B hepatitis remains a conundrum-many "virus-like" particles and many serologic tests have been described. We will have to wait to discover which among this line-up of suspects are the real culprits. This book would be valuable to virologists and hepatologists who desire an up-todate panoramic view of this diverse group of agents and diseases. It should be regarded as a handy summation of work in progress.