Hepatitis B
hideHepatitis B is a disease caused by HBV hepatitis B virus which infects the liver of hominoidae, including humans, and causes an inflammation called hepatitis. Originally known as "serum hepatitis", the disease has caused epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa, and it is endemic in China. About a third of the world's population, more than 2 billion people, have been infected with the hepatitis B virus. This includes 350 million chronic carriers of the virus. Transmission of hepatitis B virus results from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood.
The acute illness causes liver inflammation, vomiting, jaundice and—rarely—death. Chronic hepatitis B may eventually cause liver cirrhosis and liver cancer—a fatal disease with very poor response to current chemotherapy. The infection is preventable by vaccination.
Hepatitis B virus is an hepadnavirus—hepa from hepatotrophic and dna because it is a DNA virus—and it has a circular genome composed of partially double-stranded DNA. The viruses replicate through an RNA intermediate form by reverse transcription, and in this respect they are similar to retroviruses. Although replication takes place in the liver, the virus spreads to the blood where virus-specific proteins and their corresponding antibodies are found in infected people. Blood tests for these proteins and antibodies are used to diagnose the infection.
For more information about Hepatitis B, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with hepatitis b
Cost of child vaccines fall, more kids saved
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Babies squirmed and wailed as needles plunged into their chubby thighs at a public health clinic on the outskirts of Hanoi on Friday. Like little ones everywhere, the reaction to the sting was never pretty.
Toward explaining why hepatitis B hits men harder than women
Nov 18, 2009 |
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Scientists in China are reporting discovery of unusual liver proteins, found only in males, that may help explain the long-standing mystery of why the hepatitis B virus (HBV) sexually discriminates -- hitting ...
Hepatitis B does not increase risk for pancreatic cancer
Nov 01, 2009 |
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A Henry Ford Hospital study found that hepatitis B does not increase the risk for pancreatic cancer - and that only age is a contributing factor.
Trigger of deadly food toxin discovered
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A toxin produced by mold on nuts and grains can cause liver cancer if consumed in large quantities. UC Irvine researchers for the first time have discovered what triggers the toxin to form, ...
Scientists identify specific markers that trigger aggressiveness of liver cancer
Oct 20, 2009 |
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer forms in the epithelial tissue of the liver and is most commonly caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the U.S., the National Cancer Institute ...
Elevated lymphotoxin expression in liver leads to chronic hepatitis and causes HCC
Oct 05, 2009 |
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A recent study maps the pathway that leads from infection with Hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) to chronic hepatitis and liver cancer and proposes a new therapeutic strategy for treating liver diseases with chronic inflammation. ...
Researchers prolong the half-life of biopharmaceutical proteins
Sep 18, 2009 |
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Many biopharmaceuticals comprise small proteins that are quickly eliminated from the body. Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (Germany) combine such small proteins with a kind of molecular ...
HBV genotype B/B3 and C/C1 are the major genotypes in Indonesia?
Sep 16, 2009 |
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Previous studies revealed that HBV genotypes as well as mutations in the core promoter, precore or HBx gene have been shown to have an association with the clinical outcome of liver disease, however, this is still controversial. ...
Cases of liver cancer reduced in a younger population vaccinated for HBV
Sep 16, 2009 |
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A 20-year follow-up study revealed a dramatic drop in liver cancer cases among 6- to 19-year-olds who were vaccinated for the hepatitis B virus at birth, according to a study published online September 16 in the Journal of ...
Racial disparity studied in patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatitis B
Aug 28, 2009 |
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1.5 to 2 million Americans are infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Prior studies have shown there to be significant racial differences in access to ...
Genetically engineered bacteria are sweet success against IBD
Aug 20, 2009 |
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For the first time, scientists have used a genetically engineered "friendly" bacterium to deliver a therapy.
Scientists find key to strengthening immune response to chronic infection
Aug 06, 2009 |
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A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute has identified a protein that could serve as a target for reprogramming immune system cells exhausted by exposure to chronic viral infection into more effective "soldiers" against ...
Does peripheral T-lymphocyte subpopulations correlate with hepatitis B virus load?
Jul 29, 2009 |
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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a dynamic process with variable biochemical, virological and histological profiles at different stages of the infection, depending on host and viral factors. Furthermore, this profile ...
Study: Tanning beds definitely cause cancer
Jul 28, 2009 |
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(AP) -- International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming both to be as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas. For years, scientists have ...
Pre-chewed food could transmit HIV
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Jul 21, 2009 |
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Researchers have uncovered the first cases in which HIV almost certainly was transmitted from mothers or other caregivers to children through pre-chewed food. The source of HIV in the pre-chewed food was most likely the infected ...
