"Because Hepatitis C Virus goes unnoticed for such long periods,
the source of a person's infection is often hard to know. But there
are several well-known risk factors. Anyone who received a blood
transfusion before 1992 could easily have been exposed. The danger
was especially high in the 1960s, when blood banks paid donors and
screening was lax. Hepatitis C Virus infected a third of all transfusion recipients
between 1960 and '65, according to Dr. Adrian Di Bisceglie of St.
Louis University, and the infection rate is close to 100 percent
among hemophiliacs who received clotting factors before the mid-1980s
Health workers with a history of accidental needle sticks are also
at risk. No U.S. clinic would operate today without a secure receptacle
for used medical implements, but plastic garbage bags were still
the norm when Andi Thomas worked as a medical assistant in the late
1970s. She jabbed herself often during her two years at a multispecialty
clinic in Miami Beach. Her ALT levels shot up in 1979, but when
antibody tests for hepatitis A and B came back negative, her doctor
guessed that social drinking was to blame. Her Hepatitis C Virus went undiagnosed
until 1996, when another doctor saw her enzyme levels and recommended
testing.
Today, thanks to blood screening and other safeguards, the risk
of getting hep C is negligible in Western medical settings. But
IV drug abuse poses an overwhelming risk. Hepatitis C Virus replicates rapidly,
reaching high concentrations in the blood of infected people. And
because a small amount of blood can harbor a large dose of virus,
a nearly sterile syringe can easily spread the infection. The odds
of contracting the AIDS virus from a single prick with a tainted
needle are less than one in 300, notes Dr. Stuart Ray, an infectious-disease
specialist at Johns Hopkins. The odds are 10 times that high if
the needle harbors Hepatitis C Virus. In Baltimore, where Hopkins researchers
have followed IV drug users for the past dozen years, 20 percent
are infected with HIV-80 percent with hep C. Most contract Hepatitis C Virus within
six months of their first encounter with a needle." Hepatitis
C: The Insidious Spread of a Killer Virus
While many believe that Hepatitis is only contracted through IV
drug use, there are many other sources for the infection: from sharing
a toothbrush, electric razor, poor medical treatment and there are
many others. Hepatitis is far more contagious than HIV/AIDS and
yet many are unaware of the potentially fatal disease.
|
A
Comprehensive Approach to Preventing Blood-Borne Infections Among
IV drug users
|
Many health departments, community-based organizations, agencies,
and providers are working hard to reach and work with IDUs to
help them change their behaviors and reduce or eliminate their
risk of acquiring or transmitting infection.
The problem of injection
drug use and transmission of blood-borne disease persists,
however. Solutions are hampered by society's pervasive
negative attitudes toward IDUs, a lack of understanding of
drug addiction as a treatable biomedical and psychological
disease, limited funding for prevention and treatment,
restrictive laws and regulations, and polarized philosophical
viewpoints among various organizations and providers.
|
|
|
3
articles for Hep C-not related to IVDU
|
Articles that show that there are
other means of contracting the virus
|
|
|
A
review of hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) vertical transmission: risks
of transmission to infants born to mothers with and without
Hepatitis C Virus viraemia or human immunodeficiency virus infection
|
Hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) vertical
transmission studies have reported conflicting findings,
possibly due to differences in Hepatitis C Virus transmission risk factors
among maternal populations, or to methodological differences.
|
|
|
All
About Hepatitis C
|
This site, All About Hepatitis C,
is designed to help you learn more about hepatitis C,
including its causes, how hepatitis C is spread its
consequences, how to prevent hepatitis C, and how hepatitis C
is diagnosed and treated
|
|
|
AMA-Hepatitis
C
|
Hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) infection
is the most common chronic bloodborne infection in the United
States. During the 1980s, an average of 242,000 new infections
occurred every year
|
|
|
At
least 5 related, but distinct, hepatitis C viral genotypes
|
Journal article about the
different genotypes of Hepatitis C Virus
|
PDF
/ 1.3MB
|
|
Autoimmune
Hepatitis Blood Tests
|
List of several different blood
tests for Hepatitis C Virus and their values
|
|
|
Blood
tainted by Hepatitis C used in transfusion
|
The Japanese Red Cross Society has confirmed
the first case in which donated blood containing the hepatitis
C virus passed its screening tests and was used in a blood
transfusion, according to officials of the organization.
|
|
|
|
|
Californians
Support Needle Exchange, Condoms for Prisoners
|
According to a survey conducted
by the state Department of Health Services and the University
of California-Berkeley, the majority of Californians support
access to clean needles for injection drug users and condoms
for prisoners to fight the spread of HIV.
|
|
|
Chronic
Hepatitis C During Pregnancy
|
In a pregnant patient with
chronic hepatitis C, will a scheduled cesarean section reduce
the risk of vertical transmission? Is there a place for the
use of pegylated interferon during the third trimester to
reduce viral load?
|
|
|
Clearer
Liver Warning Urged for Painkillers
|
Experts are urging the federal
government to mandate clearer and more consistent warning
labels for acetaminophen, and the nation's leading maker of
the pain and fever remedy has announced it is ready to do so.
|
|
|
Clinical
Features of Hepatitis C-Infected Patients With Persistently
Normal Alanine Transaminase Levels in the Southwestern United
States
|
Approximately one third of
patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) infection have
normal alanine transaminase (ALT) levels.
|
|
|
Controversial
Issues in Hepatitis C
|
Hepatitis C, its pathogenesis,
natural history, and approaches to treatment were certainly a
focal point of this year's meeting of the American Association
for the Study of Liver Diseases in Dallas, Texas. Many of the
seminal presentations concerning this virus and its clinical
sequelae will be reviewed throughout the remainder of this
meeting coverage. This summary will specifically review data
presented on a variety of controversial areas in the world of
clinical Hepatitis C Virus.
|
|
|
Current
Information on Hepatitis C
|
This report provides additional
and new information to the May 2000 article Update on
hepatitis C treatment. The year 2000 report includes
information
about possible drug interactions between Chinese herb formulas
and interferon treatment and other important information that
is not repeated here.
|
|
|
Dental-Parenteral inoculation with patient material: Risk
of viral hepatitis |
Abode presentation for Dentist on the various methods of
transmission of Hepatitis |
1720 kb pdf |
|
Diagnostic
Tests for Liver and Gallbladder Disorders
|
Among the most important are a
group of blood tests known as liver function tests. Depending
on a patient's suspected problem, a doctor may also order
certain imaging tests, such as an ultrasound scan, computed
tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging.
|
|
|
Dialysis inked to Hepatitis C spread alarming
|
About 2.2
percent of patients who underwent dialysis in 2001 were
infected with the hepatitis C virus because some facilities
apparently failed to take proper precautions to prevent
infection |
|
|
Dirty
Needles Research Rejected
|
The United Nations has disputed
the findings of United States researchers which says most HIV
infections in Africa result from dirty medical needles.
|
|
|
Disruption
of the diurnal rhythm of plasma melatonin in liver cirrhosis
|
To assess the 24 hr plasma
melatonin profile as a marker of the output rhythm from the
circadian clock and to study sleep diaries as reflection of
subjective sleep quality in patients with liver cirrhosis .
|
|
|
Doctor
Denies Blame in Hepatitis C Outbreak
|
Dr. Tahir Javed, who is accused of using
unsanitary practices that caused the hepatitis C infections of
99 patients at his Nebraska cancer clinic has denied any
wrongdoing. The patients, who were receiving treatment at
Javed's Fremont Cancer Clinic, contracted hepatitis C between
March 2000 and December 2001. One of the infected patients has
died.
|
|
|
Doctors
Gun-Shy on Newborns' Hepatitis Shot
|
A large percentage of newborn
babies aren't getting the recommended hepatitis B vaccination
(HBV) because hospitals were thrown off their routine by a
precaution that was intended to be temporary, doctors say.
|
|
|
donor testing |
A high
incidence of liver dysfunction has been found to occur among
recipients of blood transfusion. Some 10 to 12% of recipients
develop elevates of liver enzymes. |
787 kb pdf |
|
Drug-related
AIDS & Hepatitis C Among African Americans and Latinos .pdf
|
We have watched people die from this diseases;
now they must learn how to live with HIV/AIDS. But why can’t we help prevent this disease by providing
clean needles?
|
Pdf 148 kb
|
|
Electric
Razors as a Potential Vector for Viral Hepatitis
|
The rate of viral hepatitis is
significantly higher among patients in the Veterans Affairs
medical system than it is in the general population. As many
as 24 percent of nonalcoholic patients in Veterans Affairs
facilities who do not have liver disease have antibodies to
hepatitis B, and 3.0 percent have antibodies to hepatitis C.
|
|
|
Factors
associated with prevalent Hepatitis C: Differences among young
Adult Injection Drug Users in Lower and Upper Manhattan, NYC
|
Journal Article
|
PDF
/ 107KB
|
|
Fatty
Liver When ALT is Normal
|
"Clinical and histologic
spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease associated with
normal ALT values"
|
|
|
FDA
Recommends Approval of Hepatitis B Drug
|
FDA advisory committee
unanimously recommends approval for Gilead Sciences drug
adefovir for hepatitis B (S) A Food and Drug Administration
advisory committee unanimously recommended approval yesterday
for the Gilead Sciences drug adefovir for hepatitis B
|
|
|
GAMMAGARD
RESPONSIBLE FOR IGIV-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS
|
The intravenous immune globulin
preparation Gammagard was solely responsible for a hepatitis C
virus outbreak which occurred between 1993 and 1994, according
to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
|
|
|
Gastroenterology
And Hepatology: Alcoholic Liver Disease, Liver Failure, and
Chronic Liver Disease
|
University of Iowa Family
Practice Handbook, Fourth Edition
|
|
|
H.I.V.
Lessons Used in Hepatitis C Treatment
|
Now drug companies are beginning
to test the first similar drugs for the hepatitis C virus,
which can cause fatal liver disease and has infected far more
people than H.I.V.
|
|
|
Hepatitis C Virus
and DENTAL TRANSMISSION
|
Dental Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus
|
|
|
|
|
Hepatitis C Virus
Genotype Testing Offers Cost-Effective Treatment Strategy
|
Patients confronted with a
diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) infection, along with
their families, often struggle to understand a confusing array
of new medical terms. What exactly does "viral load"
mean? What does ALT stand for, and why does it matter?
What’s the difference between fibrosis and cirrhosis?
|
|
|
Hemodialysis
and Hepatitis C
|
According to the authors'
abstract of an article published in Nephrology Dialysis
Transplantation, "Background: Despite the advent of
screening of blood products for anti-hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus),
the incidence of Hepatitis C Virus infection among haemodialysis (HD)
patients is alarmingly high and suggests transmission within
the HD unit.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C is deadly: Many emergency workers around country afraid to
be tested or treated
|
However, she said the CDC
recognizes that anyone exposed to blood-borne pathogens,
through needle-sticks and other sharp objects, are at
increased risk, but the risk is not high enough to merit
screening. The CDC has not studied firefighters or paramedics,
and she admitted that more research needs to be done.
|
|
|
Hepatitis B-Fact List
|
Fact list
|
|
|
Hepatitis
B in Children
|
Based upon CDC statistics, an
estimated 80,000 persons in the USA were
infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 1999. People of
all ages,
including children, can get hepatitis B and about 5,000 die
per year from
sickness caused by HBV
|
|
|
Hepatitis
B Vaccine Brand Changed
|
The CDC considers both Engerix-B®
and Recombivax HB® to be safe and effective in the prevention
of hepatitis B infections.1 The immune response
using one or two doses of a vaccine, followed by one or more
subsequent doses from a different manufacturer, has been
demonstrated to be comparable to a full vaccination series
with a single product.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C a Growing Killer Among People With HIV
|
Liver disease is emerging as a
leading killer of people with HIV because many are also
infected with the liver-damaging hepatitis C virus. Newly
available hepatitis C drugs offer the greatest promise yet for
the prevention of liver damage and death. But treatment
remains complicated for people infected with both viruses, a
top researcher says.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C Among Drug Users: De’ja’ Vu all
Over Again?
|
Following HIV / AIDS, hepatitis C
virus (Hepatitis C Virus) is the next emerging infectious disease epidemic
to strike persons who inject psychoactive drugs.' Like HIV;
Hepatitis C Virus is transmitted through the sharing of needles and
syringes, and the majority of new Hepatitis C Virus infections in the United
States are associated with injection drug use.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C Among Predictors for Kidney Problems in Women With HIV
|
Researchers have cited hepatitis
C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) co-infection as well as several other factors
for causing proteinuria and kidney failure in women infected
with HIV
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C from Gammagard®, An Intravenous Immunoglobulin [IGIV]
|
1994 Baxter Healthcare
Corporation withdrew from world markets
Gammagard®, an immunoglobulin administered intravenously to
those with acquired
or congential immune disorders, after 112 people in the U.S.
were reported
having symptoms of hepatitis C, the most fatal form of the
this liver disease.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C Haunts Baby Boomers
|
It might have seemed like a good
idea at the time, but those intravenous drugs that some baby
boomers played around with in the '60s and '70s could come
back to haunt them.
|
|
|
Hepatitis C in Egypt |
In Egypt,
the situation for Hepatitis C Virus infection is far worst than the rest of
the world. |
11 kb pdf |
|
Hepatitis
C may be transmitted via toothbrushes
|
The viral infection hepatitis C
could possibly be transmitted by common household items such
as toothbrushes, researchers warned here at Digestive Disease
Week, an annual meeting of gastroenterologists.
|
|
|
Hepatitis C…Meeting the Challenge: A guide for adults with
hepatitis C (Large
report-increased download time) |
This
booklet is for adults with haemophilia, or a related bleeding
disorder, who have been infected by hepatitis C – or by
hepatitis C and HIV – through using infected blood products |
1275 kb
pdf |
|
Hepatitis
C Risk Not Limited to Injection Drug Users
|
A study in New York City has
found a higher than expected prevalence of hepatitis C
infection among non-injecting drug users. In this study, as
many as 17 percent of the subjects who denied a history of
injection drug use were found to be infected, compared to a 2
percent infection rate in the general population.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C The Insidious Spread of a Killer Virus
|
This stealthy disease can
incubate for decades. Now thousands of people are getting
sick. By 2010 it may strike down more Americans each year than
AIDS
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C virus and interferon resistance
|
Interferon is the only therapy
for Hepatitis C Virus virus infection; however, many virus isolates are
resistant.
|
PDF
/ 373KB
|
|
Hepatitis C Virus Infections in Dialysis Centers in The
Netherlands: a National Survey by Serological and Molecular
Methods |
The
prevalence of HCV infections among dialysis patients is
generally much higher than that among healthy blood donors.
Studies in selected dialysis centers from different
countries all over the world revealed that
prevalences range from 2 to 3% to 60%. To a
certain extent this may reflect the different
prevalences of HCV-infected individuals among the
general population in these countries. However, the dialysis
process itself and the level of hygienic
standards may influence the risk of HCV
infection. This may explain differences found
between dialysis centers in one country |
|
|
Hepatitis
C Virus Infection in Spouses of Patients with Type C Chronic
Liver Disease
|
Survey for markers of hepatitis C
virus (Hepatitis C Virus) infection in spouses of patients with Hepatitis C Virus-related
chronic liver disease.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C Virus Infection in the Mothers and Infants Cohort Study
|
Objectives. To estimate the
hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) vertical transmission rate, the effect
of potential risk factors, and the pattern of Hepatitis C Virus antibody
response and viremia in Hepatitis C Virus-infected infants.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C Virus Infection in Young, Low-Income Women: The Role of
Sexually Transmitted Infection as a Potential Cofactor for Hepatitis
C
Infection
|
Objectives. We evaluated risk for hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus)
infection in women residing in low-income
neighborhoods of northern California.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C Virus Resistance to Antiviral Therapy
|
Research produces highly
efficient antiviral drugs-the viruses develop sophisticated
strategies to evade their actions
|
PDF
/ 199KB
|
|
Hepatitis
C Virus Transmission From an Anesthesiologist to a Patient
|
An anesthesiologist was diagnosed
as having acute hepatitis C 3 days after providing anesthesia
during the thoracotomy of a 64-year-old man (patient A). Eight
weeks later, patient A was diagnosed as having acute hepatitis
C.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
C: The Silent Epidemic
|
Hepatitis C (Hepatitis C Virus) is being called
the silent epidemic because as many as 70% of those infected
with this virus don't know even know it. According to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in
Atlanta, Georgia, nearly 4 million people in the United States
are infected with the virus. Hepatitis C Virus now causes 8,000 to 10,000
deaths a year and this number may increase to 30,000 in the
next two decades.
|
|
|
Hepatitis
viruses: Changing patterns of human disease
|
Changes in human ecology and
behavior have had discernable effects on the epidemiology of
the hepatitis viruses in different ways and to different
degrees
|
PDF
/ 1.4MB
|
** In order to view PDF files, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on
your computer. Many computers already have this software; however, if you need
it, a free copy is available for download at this site: Click
here to get Adobe Acrobat Reader.
