HCV History & Facts

Unsafe Injections 2m Hepatitis Cases Annually
Winifred Ogbeb and Victor Okeke, Leadership, Nigeria’s Newspaper, July 29 2015

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that about two million people a year contract hepatitis from unsafe injections. It added that there is an urgent need for countries to enhance action to prevent viral hepatitis infection and to ensure that people who have been infected are diagnosed and offered treatment.

HCV Education & Support: A Brief Historyof Hepatitis C;
Alan Franciscus, Editor in Chief, 2010 Hepatitis C Support Project, www.hcvadvocate.org

The management and care of hepatitis C has come a long way in the last decade. While there are still many unanswered questions, we have a much better understanding of hepatitis C transmission, prevention, disease progression and treatment. This factsheet will focus on a brief review of the history of hepatitis C and the major strides made in treating HCV since the identification of the virus.

Epidemiology and Natural History of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Injection Drug Users: Implications for Treatment;
Mark S. Sulkowski, David L. Thomas; Clinical Infectious Diseases 2005; 40:S263–9

Effective methods to diminish the burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among IDUs require consideration of the epidemiology and natural history of both hepatitis C and drug use. Most HCV infections are due to injection drug use, and most IDUs have HCV infection. In addition, HCV infection often occurs with other medical problems, such as human immunodeficiency virus infection and depression, which may complicate its recognition and management. Although clearly some IDUs want their HCV infection to be treated, many are unwilling or unable to initiate or sustain treatment with currently available therapies, and IDUs who are treated require considerable, multidimensional support. Solutions to the problem of HCV infection among IDUs must account for these facts.

Hepatitis C History,
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD http://www.news-medical.net/health/Hepatitis-C-History.aspx

The ancient history of hepatitis is unknown and there has been no characterization of the virus and its typical symptoms in ancient times. This is because no specific symptoms associated with this infection are known.

However, like most other viruses, the hepatitis C virus also could have been around for hundreds of thousands of years or more evolving with time to its current genotypes and strains.

The Natural History of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection:
Stephen L. Chen and Timothy R. Morgan: International Journal of Medical Sciences 2006

There is much controversy surrounding the natural history of hepatitis C infection. The rate of chronic HCV infection is affected by a person’s age, gender, race, and viral immune response. An understanding of the natural history of hepatitis C is essential to effectively manage, treat, and counsel individuals with HCV infection

The Origin and Evolution of Hepatitis Viruses in Humans:
2000 Fleming LectureDelivered at the 146th Meeting of the Society for General Microbiology, 13 April 2000, Peter Simmonds; Journal of General Virology (2001), 82, 693–712.

This Lecture will summarize what is currently known about the origins and evolution of a number of hepatitis viruses, and will illustrate how our understanding of the transmission of HCV and its likely future clinical impact would be enhanced if we were able to discover some basic facts about its past.

The Origin of Hepatitis C Virus,
Peter Simmonds Hepatitis C Virus: From Molecular Virology to Antiviral Therapy Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology Volume 369, 2013, pp 1-15

This review of HCV origins therefore concentrates initially on the better characterized recent epidemic transmission of HCV in the twentieth century and the existence of suspected source areas for infection in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Area. Some aspects of the much less well understood history of HCV before this recent spread will be speculatively discussed, as will the existence of HCV-like viruses in non-human species.

Hepatitis C:
Fact sheet N°164, Updated July 2013, World Health Organization

WHO Fact sheet provides clear updated information and resources on transmission, symptoms, testing, treatment and prevention

http://www.medicinenet.com/hepatitis_pictures_slideshow/article.htm

Hepatitis Pictures Slide Show: A Visual Guide to Hepatitis