Living Depends on the Liver: Viral Hepatitis Quiz

Answer: Letters

The known viruses are named A, B, C, D and E. At times there were additional viral diseases named F and G but F is more of an hypothesis and G has been incorporated with hepatitis C.

Cases of blood-borne hepatitis not identified by known antibodies are still reported, so the whole story is not yet known.

Answer: It is generally not spread by sexual contact.

Hep A is food-borne. It is shed through the digestive tract of an infected person and passed in the bowel movement. Food that has been contaminated by sewage in the water has been linked to outbreaks at several restaurant chains. This virus is rarely fatal, although victims with HIV disease or other liver problems are at higher risk.

Hep A does not persist as a chronic infection. A vaccine is available and is highly recommended. Good hygiene and careful food preparation should never be neglected.

Answer: Sharing unsterilized drinking glasses.

Drinking glass transmission could only happen if the infected person left blood on the glass and the other person had an open wound or sore in the mouth. These conditions rarely occur. Although screening of the blood supply has greatly reduced spread of the Hep B through transfusion, rare cases do happen.

This is one virus that is efficiently spread by contact with other body fluids, such as semen. Most seriously, some Hep B infections are not cleared by the natural antibody process. These can produce chronic inflammation of the liver.

In chronic cases, the person remains infectious to others. Worst of all, chronic inflammation can lead to cirrhosis and to liver cancer.

Answer: Having sex with an infected person.

Sexual transmission is more likely when a person engages in acts which involve damage and bleeding of the tissues, but unlike Hep B it spreads this way only with difficulty. Screening tests for donated blood were first used in 1990, so people who received transfusions before that time may have been infected.

This is another virus that acts chronically on the liver, causing slow damage and often cirrhosis. No vaccine exists for this virus.

Answer: It can infect only cells already infected with Hepatitis B.

The Hep D virus lacks an important enzyme that would permit it to enter and damage a liver cell. However, if the cell is damaged by Hep B virus activity, it can "borrow" the necessary enzyme and produce a secondary infection. Hep D causes a very virulent infection with rapidly progressing damage to the liver. It is spread by the same routes as B and C.

Answer: It is transmitted through blood and other body fluids.

On August 31, 2004 (three days before I started composing this quiz!) a Japanese medical study documented a higher incidence of Hep E antibodies in people who had eaten raw deer meat than in an otherwise matched group of people who had not. The implications of this finding are not very clear at this time.

This virus is spread not by blood but by poor hygiene and fecal contamination of food. It typically produces a very mild infection without symptoms which is rapidly cleared by the body. No vaccine is under development because the virus is not known to be a significant threat to people or other animals.

Answer: There is very little evidence that such a virus exists.

Hep G leaves antibodies to mark its presence, and has been isolated and genetically mapped. It is similar in structure to the very bad Hep C virus, but produces no signs of disease in the liver.

Answer: Drugs that stimulate or mimic the body's defense reaction, but do not single out specific viruses.

Drugs that are designed to fit a particular
virus are in use against HIV (AIDS) today, but
have not been fully tested or approved for use against the various hepatitis viruses. Interferons, which are naturally produced by the body to fight off infection, can also be synthesized and taken by injection. Combinations of interferons with other drugs have helped with some cases of B and C.

Answer: All of these are important.

Regular exercise and stress management also help promote general health and support the body's immune defenses.

Answer: 2

Currently only Hepatitis A and B have effective vaccines. Twenty years ago, Hep B shots were recommended for health-care professionals who came in contact with blood. Today, it is recommended for all children, as part of their routine vaccination program. Hep B remains a major health concern in many parts of the world. No vaccine is available for Hep C, a very serious infection which is unfortunately epidemic in most of the world. It is currently the most common reason for liver transplantation in the USA.

Thanks! I hope this quiz has been interesting and informative. Stay well!