Hepatitis Delta
Studies first reported in 1977 led to the realization that some patients with a more damaging form of Hep B infection were also infected with a second virus. This second virus is now known as hepatitis delta virus, hepatitis D virus or simply HDV.
S. Korea sends vaccines for N. Korean children
South Korea has sent a batch of vaccines for more than 1 million North Korean children, a Seoul official said Tuesday, in the latest conciliatory gesture toward the communist neighbor.
The hepatitis B vaccines, worth 1.06 billion won (US$942,300), were delivered to the North through international relief agencies in the South in two installments, with the last one being sent on Monday, said the official at Seoul's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with Pyongyang.
New therapy for hepatitis B combats virus and stimulates immune system
Scientists have developed a new treatment approach for chronic hepatitis-B infections that is set to improve the prospects of eliminating the infection and curing the disease.
Fish pedicures unlikely to cause HIV or HCV infection
The Daily Mail and the Sun are alarming their readers today with articles alleging that “fish foot spa pedicures could spread HIV and hepatitis C” and that there is a "fish foot spa virus bombshell". The story has been picked up other media outlets, including Fox News, the Times of India and the Daily Telegraph. However the stories mostly twist and distort the source they are based on, a set of recommendations from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on the management of fish pedicures and fish spas. Indeed, the HPA titled their press release: “Fish pedicures unlikely to cause infection.”
Liver Cancer Decreasing In High Risk Countries, Increasing In Low Risk Countries
A new study finds liver cancer incidence rates continue to increase in some low-risk parts of the world such as North America, and are decreasing in some of the highest risk countries of Asia. Despite this, the incidence rates in Asian countries remain twice as high as those in Africa and more than four times as high as rates in North America.
China: Where a blood test determines everything
While China is home to an estimated one-third of the world’s hepatitis B carriers, it’s also a place where those with the virus are routinely rejected by employers and schools, spurned by friends and romantic partners. And while discrimination isn’t going away, the nation’s hepatitis sufferers have new means, some legal and some deceitful, to battle bias.
Updated Hepatitis C Practice Guidelines Now Available from AASLD
The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases published new guidelines for hepatitis C treatment due to the arrival of new FDA apporved drugs.
ACT jail not best for needle program
Hepatitis Australia chief executive Helen Tyrell said there was not a jail in the world that could declare itself drug free. Ms Tyrell said prisons were a high-risk environment for hepatitis C, with one in three males and two in three females of the 30,000 inmates incarcerated being infected with the virus. She said, prisoners return to the community and plainly prison health is a public health issue
GRAMMY® Winner Natalie Cole to Spotlight Hepatitis C Campaign at National Press Club
GRAMMY winner Natalie Cole, who was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C in 2008, will meet with leading patient advocates in Washington, D.C., and discuss the Tune In to Hep C national public health initiative, sponsored by Merck and the American Liver Foundation, at a National Press Club Speakers Luncheon, Wednesday, October 19.
India: Shortage of hep B vaccine derails plans to bring it under universal immunisation
The shortage of hepatitis B vaccine has derailed the plans of the Union health ministry to bring it under the universal immunisation programme (UIP) across the country from April this year.
Sources in the health ministry said it could not be implemented due to the severe shortage of vaccine for hep B in the country. In 2002, the government of India decided to provide hepatitis-B vaccine as a pilot in 33 districts and 14 cities. In 2007, hepatitis B vaccine was expanded to cover 10 states and five UTs beside the districts already covered in other states.
“It has been decided to expand hepatitis B vaccination to the entire country under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in 2011. However due to shortage of vaccines, universal expansion has not taken place,” an official said.