Discusses all aspects of viral hepatitis, from structure and molecular virology, and natural history and experimental models, to epidemiology, diagnosis and prevention. A section on clinical aspects covers transfusion-associated hepatitis, occupational aspects and paediatric infection.

The global epidemic of hepatitis B and C is a serious public health problem. Hepatitis B and C are the major causes of chronic liver disease and liver cancer in the world. In the next 10 years, 150,000 people in the United States will die from liver disease or liver cancer associated with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Today, between 800,000 and 1.4 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis B and between 2.7 and 3.9 million have chronic hepatitis C. People most at risk for hepatitis B and C often are the least likely to have access to medical services. Reducing the rates of illness and death associated with these diseases will require greater awareness and knowledge among health care workers, improved identification of at-risk people, and improved access to medical care. Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable disease. Although federal public health officials recommend that all newborns, children, and at-risk adults receive the vaccine, about 46,000 new acute cases of the HBV infection emerge each year, including 1,000 in infants who acquire the infection during birth from their HBV-positive mothers. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C, which is transmitted by direct exposure to infectious blood. Hepatitis and Liver Cancer identifies missed opportunities related to the prevention and control of HBV and HCV infections. The book presents ways to reduce the numbers of new HBV and HCV infections and the morbidity and mortality related to chronic viral hepatitis. It identifies priorities for research, policy, and action geared toward federal, state, and local public health officials, stakeholder, and advocacy groups and professional organizations.

This book presents up-to-date, practically oriented information on major topics in chronic hepatitis C. The coverage encompasses epidemiology; diagnosis, including molecular methods; treatment and challenges; and the management of co-infections. Readers will find guidance on pretherapeutic evaluation with respect to disease severity and extrahepatic manifestations. Resistance to antiviral treatment and its management are discussed, and the nature of optimal follow-up is addressed in detail. Treatment of HCV/HIV co-infection is considered separately, and the approach in special patient populations is thoroughly examined. Chronic Hepatitis C will be of high value for general practitioners and specialists in gastroenterology, infectious diseases, and internal medicine. It will be international in scope in terms of both authorship and appeal.

Testing and diagnosis of hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infection is the gateway for access to both prevention and treatment services, and is a crucial component of an effective response to the hepatitis epidemic. Early identification of persons with chronic HBV or HCV infection enables them to receive the necessary care and treatment to prevent or delay progression of liver disease. Testing also provides an opportunity to link people to interventions to reduce transmission, through counselling on risk behaviors and provision of prevention commodities (such as sterile needles and syringes) and hepatitis B vaccination. These are the first WHO guidelines on testing for chronic HBV and HCV infection and complement published guidance by WHO on the prevention, care and treatment of chronic hepatitis C and hepatitis B infection. These guidelines outline the public health approach to strengthening and expanding current testing practices for HBV and HCV, and are intended for use across age groups and populations.

This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art review of HBV infection and liver disease. It discusses new data on basic and translational medicine, including the viral life cycle, the immunopathogenesis of virus-induced chronic hepatitis, viral and host genetic factors affecting disease progression, and the mechanism of virus-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, as well as their potential applications in daily clinical practice. The clinical aspects of chronic HBV infection are examined in chapters on the global epidemiology, efficacy of HBV vaccination, natural history, co-infections with HCV, HDV or HIV, and management of special populations including children, pregnant women and patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy. Further, it describes the advances and perspectives in the development of novel antiviral treatments as possible cures for HBV infection. The book is a valuable resource for medical students, physicians, and researchers who are interested in managem ent of patients with chronic HBV infection and investigation of HBV infection.

Hepatitis B and C cause most cases of hepatitis in the United States and the world. The two diseases account for about a million deaths a year and 78 percent of world's hepatocellular carcinoma and more than half of all fatal cirrhosis. In 2013 viral hepatitis, of which hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the most common types, surpassed HIV and AIDS to become the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. The world now has the tools to prevent hepatitis B and cure hepatitis C. Perfect vaccination could eradicate HBV, but it would take two generations at least. In the meantime, there is no cure for the millions of people already infected. Conversely, there is no vaccine for HCV, but new direct-acting antivirals can cure 95 percent of chronic infections, though these drugs are unlikely to reach all chronically-infected people anytime soon. This report, the first of two, examines the feasibility of hepatitis B and C elimination in the United States and identifies critical success factors. The phase two report will outline a strategy for meeting the elimination goals discussed in this report.

There has been an explosion of both the incidence and medicalknowledge of viral hepatitis over the last two decades. Not only isthe incidence of infection and disease increasing, but newhepatitis viruses have been discovered, as well as the launch ofnew pharmaceutical products. Previously published by Churchill Livingstone, ViralHepatitis by Zuckerman & Thomas was the first comprehensivebook on hepatitis and is recognized as the standardreference text in this field. The new third edition, now published by Blackwell Publishing,addresses the recent advances in diagnosis and treatment withentirely revised and current topics. It covers the entire spectrumof viral hepatitis and has something of interest for everyspecialist. Viral Hepatitis presents the latest thinking from theleading international researchers and clinicians working in thisfield and the Editors are joined by a North American co-Editor forthis edition - Professor Stanley Lemon of the University of Texas,Galveston, TX, USA. This book offers an ideal reference for all healthcareprofessionals involved in the research and patient care of thisdisease.