Hepatitis

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Hepatitis

• Viral Hepatitis is a group of disease that infect
  the liver. Three viruses - Hepatitis A, Hepatitis
  B and Hepatitis C are the most frequent viruses.

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Hepatitis A

• Hepatitis A is a frequent virus of childhood and
  is not considered a deadly and serious infection.
• It is most commonly transmitted via the
  fecal-oral route through contaminated food or
  drinking water.

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Hepatitis B

• Hepatitis B is an infectious viral disease
  transmitted by body fluids or needles (including
  unprotected sex)
• Hepatitis B can cause severe acute infections and
  severe chronic infections.

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Hepatitis C (HCV)

• Hepatitis C is transmitted through blood routes,
  needles, tattoos and sexual activity.
• Hepatitis C is a quiet virus that may not be
  noticed
• This virus may slowly eat away at your liver
  causing scarring and damage and finally almost
  total liver destruction.
• Link

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Prevelance of HCV
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Treatment of HCV

• Current treatment is a combination off pegylated
  interferon alpha (Pagasys and PEG-Intron)
  combined with the antiviral drug ribavirin for a
  period of 24 to 48 weeks.

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Interferon alpha

• Interferons are proteins produced by the immune
  system in response to viruses
• Interferons serve to activate the immune system,
  specifically MHC 1 (major histocompatibility
  complex 1), thus giving a signal to T cells.
• Link
• Link

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Pegylated Interferon alfa-2a

• This protein derivative is formed by the addition
  of polyethylene glycol (structure above) to the
  interferon, leading to an enhanced lifetime of
  the interferon

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Ribavirin

• Ribavirin resembles both adenosine and guanosine
  and may become incorporated into growing strands
  of RNA
• However the carboxamide group pairs equally well
  with both uracil or cytosine, thus leading to
  mutations in RNA-dependent RNA polymerases.
• Ribavirin also acts as an inhibitor of inosine
  5-monophosphate dehydrogenase, a crucial enzyme
  in the biosynthesis of RNA.

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