Author/Editor		Matičič, Mojca
Title		Hepatitis B and C virus infections - an overview
Type		članek
Source		In: Ferlan-Marolt V, Luzar B, editors. Viral hepatitis. Proceedings of the 35th memorial meeting to professor Janez Plečnik with international participation; 2004 Dec 2-3; Ljubljana. Ljubljana: Faculty of medicine, Institute of pathology,
Publication year		2004
Volume		str. 98-105
Language		eng
Abstract		Hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections are among the most freguent viral infections worldwide and represent a global health problem. Approximately one third of the world population have serological evidence of past or present infection by hepatitis B virus and 350 million are chronically infected. Approximately 170 million people, who represent 3% of the world population, are chronically infected by hepatitis C virus. Chronic hepatitis, related to hepaiitis B and hepatitis C virus infections is the main cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which are responsible for a high rate of morbidity and mortality worldwide. At present, end-stage hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus related liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are the main causes of liver transplantation. The knowledge of the epidemiology and natural course of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections have markedly improved in the last years and effective therapy has been introduced particularly for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection. New treatment agents and new therapeutic strategies are currently under evaluation to further improve the survival of chronically infected patients.
Descriptors		HEPATITIS B HEPATITIS C HEPATITIS, CHRONIC ACTIVE HEPATITIS B VIRUS HEPATITIS C-LIKE VIRUSES DISEASE PROGRESSION