109 - Viral Hepatitis 1 and 2 Flashcards
Cause of jaundice
Hyperbilireubinaemia
Type of cancer that hepatitis can lead to
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Effect of hepatitis viruses on host cells
Cytopathic (cause pathology), but not cytolytic (don’t lyse host cells)
Different prognosis of hepatitis disease based on age of transmission
Younger exposure leads to less severe acute disease, greater likelihood of chronic diseaseOlder exposure leads to more severe acute disease, lesser likelihood of chronic disease
Is there any cross-protection between hepatitis viruses?
No
Enteric hepatitis viruses
Hep A and E
Chronic hepatitis viruses
Hep B, D and C
How are hep B, C and D transmitted?
Percutaneously, permucosally
How to diagnose acute hepatitis 1 2
1) Serological tests (EG: ELISA) 2) Nucleic acid tests (EG: PCR). This is less effective than ELISA.
ELISA tests for acute hepatitis1)2)3)
1) Over 90% sensitive, over 99% specific
2) IgM antibodies detectable at between 1-2 weeks after exposure.
3) Rising IgG titres indicates an acute infection
Hepatitis A viral family
Picornaviridae
Hep A virion characteristics1)2)3)
1) Non-enveloped, (+)ssRNA virus
2) 30nm particle, resistent to stomach acid
3) 7.5nt genome, coding for a single polyprotein
Serotypes of hep A
Single serotype worldwide. All viral strains elicit the same antibody response.
Hep A and hep E life cycles1)2)3)4)
1) Ingested from contaminated food or water
2) Replication in intestinal epithelia
3) Enters blood, replicates in the liver
4) Excreted via the bile canaliculi into faeces
Fulminant infection
Extremely-rapid onset
A spike in what coincides with hepatitis symptoms?
Liver enzyme ALT (alanine aminotransferase, coincides with damaged liver)
Hep A incubation period
Average 30 days.15-50 day range
Hep A symptoms by age group1)2)3)
1) Under 6 years, 10% show symptoms 2) Between 6-14 years, 40-50% 3) Over 14 years, 70-80%
Hep A symptoms
Jaundice, vomiting, pale faeces, dark urine
Hep A complications
Fulminant hepatitis (rarely), cholestatic hepatitis
Chronic sequelae of hep A and E
None
Typical serological course of hep A infection
Length of hep A symptoms
2-3 weeks
Hep A prevention and treatment1)2)3)4)
1) Sanitation
2) Pre-exposure (for travellers) or post-exposure (within 14 days of exposure) immunoglobulin
3) Supportive rehydration and nutrition
4) Vaccine
Hep A vaccine1)2)3)4)5)6)
1) Virus grown in a diploid cell culture
2) Inactivated whole virus with formalin
3) Alum adjuvant
4) 2-3 doses
5) Over 95% effective after 1 dose, ~100% after 2
6) Expensive to produce (because of diploid cells, testing for viral inactivation)
Hep E viral family
Hepeviridae.Formerly caliciviridae
Hep E virion characteristics1)2)3)4)
1) Non-enveloped, (+)ssRNA virus.
2) Icosahedral.
3) 7.7kb genome
4) Slightly more fragile virion than hep A
Differences between hep A and hep E distribution
Both affect Africa, central America, but hep E has a greater burden on Asia
Hep E epidemiology1)2)3)
1) Outbreaks associated with faecally-contaminated drinking water.
2) Minimal human-human transmission
3) Closely-related to a virus infecting pigs. Could be a zoonosis.
Hep E incubation period
Average 40 days.
2-10 week range
Hep E case fatality rate
~1-3% normally.
15-25% in pregnant women
Hep E typical serological course
Hepatitis viruses that can be sexually-transmitted
All, though hep B is the most likely to be transmitted
Hepatitis viruses that can be transmitted through intravenous drug use
Hep B and C
Proportion of Australian intravenous drug users who have hep C
50-60%
Hep B virion structure
Enveloped, with hep B surface antigen in envelopeViral DNA within a core (leading to double-walled structure in an electron micrograph)HBsAg can form VLPs
Hep B genome1)2)3)4)
1) 3kb relaxed circle of dsDNA
2) Viral polymerase on 5’ end of (-) strand
3) 2 12bp short direct repeats
4) 18nt ssRNA cap on 5’ end of (+) strand
HBeAg
A variant of the core protein, which has the pre-C region included
HBcAg
Hep B core protein (missing pre-C region, which would turn it into HBeAg
Life cycle of hep B, C, D1)2)3)4)
1) Contact via blood, sexual fluids
2) Virus penetrates intestinal epithelia (does not replicate here like hep A and E do)
3) Enters blood, travels to liver.
4) Replication in hepatocytes