BACKGROUND Hepatitis A and B vaccines are effective in preventing superinfection and sequelae in patients with chronic hepatitis B or C. We describe immunity and vaccination against hepatitis A and B in chronic hepatitis patients from the US Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study. METHODS We identified chronic hepatitis B and C patients with healthcare utilization during 2006-2008 and 12 months of en...

Background and Aims: Viral hepatitis is a global health problem with a high mortality rate. Recently, a new Flavi-like virus, provisionally named hepatitis G virus (HGV), has been described. HGV does not induce an immune response that is consistently detectable by using recombinant proteins from prokaryotic expression, therefore studies have been conducted by using polymerase chain reaction (...

WHY IMMUNE ESCAPE IS IMPORTANT Knowledge of the molecular virology of the hepatitis viruses and the responses they elicit has emphasised the importance of host immunity in resolving infection and mediating liver damage. Many viruses cause cytolytic infections in which viral replication occurs at the expense of host cell viability. However this is a shortsighted strategy for the virus as it prov...

Five human hepatitis viruses cause most of the acute and chronic liver disease worldwide. Over the past 25 years, hepatitis C virus (HCV) in particular has received much interest because of its ability to persist in most immunocompetent adults and because of the lack of a protective vaccine. Here we examine innate and adaptive immune responses to HCV infection. Although HCV activates an innate ...

the prevalence of hepatitis c virus (hcv) is approximately 3% around the world. this virus causes chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. the effectiveness of interferon-α and ribavirin therapy is about 50% and is associated with significant toxicity and cost. hence, generating new vaccines or drugs is an obligation. however, there is no vaccine available for clinical u...

successful clearance of hepatitis b virus (hbv) is a promising event in which host's immune system will attempt to get rid of the virus. the immunological events of hbsag seroclearance have attracted great attention in both natural history investigations and therapeutic trials. recent genome-wide association studies (gwas) has confirmed polymorphisms in the human leukocyte antigen (hla)-dp locu...

The treatment goal for chronic hepatitis B is true eradication of the hepatitis B virus, but this is rarely achieved with first-line treatment regimens because of an inability to disrupt covalently closed circular DNA and an inadequate host immune response. Therefore, new antiviral agents are needed to target various stages of the hepatitis B virus lifecycle and modulation of the immune system....

Good personal hygiene is one of the most important measures for control of hepatitis infection. Hepatitis is transmitted by close contact with an infected person or nonhuman primate, exposure to infected food or water, transfusion of infected blood, dialysis, or contact with hepatitis-containing laboratory specimens. Each of these situations necessitates certain precautions to avoid contaminati...