Hepatitis

First in a series, here we explain what hepatitis C is and how it affects the body, as well as explore the barriers to curing hepatitis and propose new ...

As a result, chronic hepatitis C symptoms include cirrhosis symptoms like ascites (accumulation of fluid and swelling of the abdominal cavity), spider angioma on the stomach, jaundice, and easy bruising and bleeding in addition to symptoms also associated with an acute infection. Hepatitis C is a blood borne viral infection that affects the liver by causing inflammation and swelling of liver tissues. In spontaneous clearance of HCV infection, the innate immune response displays high ISG activity within the first few days of infection. As the ISG response successfully stops replication of HCV, there is a sharp decline in viremia around 8-12 weeks after infection. By studying the infected chimpanzees, Alter’s team was able to understand the viral transmission of the new agent and learned that it was a small, enveloped virus. The approaches used to identify the HAV and HBV viruses were unsuccessful in identifying HCV and necessitated the development of a new molecular cloning strategy. When the adaptive response starts taking effect, CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells are released which play an important role in coordinating a sustained immune response and killing off infected cells. HCV was then classified into the new genus of hepaciviruses in the family of Flaviviridae due to its similarities to the encephalitis flavivirus. Though the viral infection is easily diagnosable and treatable, a cure for hepatitis C remains elusive and one of the most prevalent public health issues in the United States and globally. In 1989, a team at the Chiron Corporation led by Michael Houghton and Qui-Lim Choo were able to use that cDNA to successfully identify and replicate the virus. The existence of what we now know to be hepatitis C was first discovered in 1975 by a team of NIH researchers led by Dr. While developing new serological testing to diagnose post-transfusion hepatitis, Feinstone’s team found that many of their samples tested negative for both hepatitis A and hepatitis B, indicating that there was a new type of hepatitis caused by a novel infectious agent.