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Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e
| Part 14. Disorders of the Gastrointestinal System > Section 2. Liver and Biliary Tract Disease > |
Chapter 304. Acute Viral Hepatitis
Sections: Acute Viral Hepatitis: Introduction, Further Readings.
Topics Discussed: hepatitis; hepatitis, viral; hepatitis, viral, acute.
Excerpt:"Acute viral hepatitis is a systemic infection affecting the liver predominantly. Almost all cases of acute viral hepatitis are caused by one of five viral agents: hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), the HBV-associated delta agent or hepatitis D virus (HDV), and hepatitis E virus (HEV). Other transfusion-transmitted agents (e.g., "hepatitis G" virus and "TT" virus, have been identified but do not cause hepatitis). All these human hepatitis viruses are RNA viruses, except for hepatitis B, which is a DNA virus. Although these agents can be distinguished by their molecular and antigenic properties, all types of viral hepatitis produce clinically similar illnesses. These range from asymptomatic and inapparent to fulminant and fatal acute infections common to all types, on the one hand, and from subclinical persistent infections to rapidly progressive chronic liver disease with cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma, common to the bloodborne types (HBV, HCV, and HDV), on the other.Hepatitis A virus is a nonenveloped 27-nm, heat-, acid-, and ether-resistant RNA virus in the Hepatovirus genus of the picornavirus family (Fig. 304-1). Its virion contains four capsid polypeptides, designated VP1 to VP4,..."
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