The Hepatitis Viruses

Question 1

What is Hepatitis?

Answer 1

• Inflammation of liver
• Infections caused by viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic
• Non-infectious causes are alcohol, drug, autoimmune diseases
• 5 viruses

Question 2

Viremia

Answer 2

• Virus in blood
• Diagnosing depends on length of viremia
• Uses host cells to diagnose infections (Increase in IgG and IgM antibodies = infection

Question 3

Hep A

Answer 3

• Fecal-oral transmission route
• Nausea, vomiting, jaundice, fever, abdominal pain
• Age will determine the severity of the illness
• Enters bloodstream from intestine, targets liver cells
• Acute infection is diagnosed by detect of HAV-IgM in serum
• Past infection is determined by detect of HAV-IgF
• Prevented by effective vaccines

Question 4

Hep C

Answer 4

• 20% of all acute hep cases
• Transmitted by sexual exposure, needle stick, injecting drug use
• Detected in blood with PCR as it has a viremia phase
• No vaccine

Question 5

Hep B

Answer 5

• transmission from sexual, intravenous, perinatal, needle stick from injected patients
• core and surface antigen

Question 6

HBsAG

Answer 6

HBsAG = surface antigen = general marker of infection

Question 7

HBsAB

Answer 7

surface antibody = documents recovery/immunity

Question 8

IgM

Answer 8

early core antibody

Question 9

IgG

Answer 9

past core antibody

Question 10

HBeAG

Answer 10

active replication of virus

Question 11

HBeAB

Answer 11

virus is no longer replicating

Question 12

HBeAG & HDeAG

Answer 12

first markers that can be detected in serum
(after 3 weeks, you get surface antibody which = protection)
treated with immunization