Hepatitis viruses Flashcards
What shape is the Hep A virus?
- Spherical
Is the Hep A virus enveloped or non-enveloped and does it consist of RNA or DNA?
- Non-enveloped
- Single stranded RNA genome
Is the Hep A virus stable?
- Yes
How can the Hep A virus be transmitted? (4 points)
- Person to person
- Food-borne
- Water-borne
- Faecal-oral route
Is the Hep A virus more prevalent in developed or developing countries?
- Developing
What is the incubation period for the Hep A virus?
- 2-7 weeks
What is an ‘incubation period’?
- The period between exposure to an infection and the app earace of the first symptoms
What does Hep A usually cause on people in relation to infections?
- Usually sub clinical infection - don’t necessarily have any obvious signs or symptoms
What is the mortality rate of Hep A?
- <0.2%
- People don’t usually die from Hep A
Does Hep A have the ability to cause chronic infections?
- No
How can you diagnose Hep A? (2 points)
- Demonstartion of HAV antigen in faeces
- Serology: detection of IgM anti-HAV
What is meant by ACTIVE immunisation?
- Give an antigen and the body produces own antibodies
What is meant by PASSIVE immunisation?
- Give a pre-formed antibody
A person can be given human normal immunoglobulin for short-term protection against Hep A. How long does this protect you for?
- 4 months
What is in the Vaccine for Hep A? (2 points)
- Formaldehyde-inactivated hep A virus
- Prepared from the GBM or HM 175 strain of hepatitis A virus
How long does a single dose of the Hep A vaccine give a person antibodies for?
- 1 year
If a person is given the Hep A vaccine and then given a booster dose 6-12 months later, how long should this give them immunity for?
- Immunity for 10 years
Hoe many people globally are infected with the Hep B virus?
- 350 million (global problem)
70% of new cases of Hep B occur among people between the ages of what?
- 15-39
occurs relatively young
How much more infectious is Hep B than HIV?
- 100 times
only need a small amount of blood to transmit - very infectious
Is there an effective vaccine available for Hep B?
- Yes
Is there a curative treatment for Hep B?
- No, but new antivirals can suppress the viral loa d
What is meant by ‘viral load’?
- The number of viral particles per ml of blood
Is there DNA or RNA in the Hep B virus?
- Partially double stranded DNA virus
What is another name for the hepatitis DNA virus?
- Hepadnavirus
How many subtypes of HBV virus exist?
- 8
- You are protected against all of them by the 1 vaccine
What is a Dane particle?
- A spherical particle found in the serum in the Hep B that is the virion of the causative double-stranded DNA virus
What is another name for the outer coat of a hep B particle?
- Hep B surface antigen
If a strand of Hep B has the Hep B core antigen what does this mean?
- The likelyhood of transmitting the infection is very high
What are the 2 different forms a Hep B virus particle can be?
- Long, cylindrical forms
- Short, circular forms
What is the most common risk factor of getting infected with the Hep B virus?
- Heterosexual exposure
- A big problem is that a lot of the patients that are infected with the virus will not know
What are the 3 main routes of transmission of the HBV virus?
- Bloodborne
- Sexual
- Perinatal
What categories of people have a higher risk of transmitting HBV? (7 points)
- IV drug users
- Sexually active hetero- and homosexuals
- Children of immigrants from disease-endemic areas
- Sexual/household contacts of infected people
- Infants born to infected mothers
- Healthcare workers
- Haemodialysis patients
What is the recovery rate of adults in non endemic areas with HBV?
- 95% recovery
What is the recovery rate of infants in endemic areas with HBV?
- 5-20% recovery
In non endemic countries, what percentage of adults have the inapparent disease of HBV and what percentage has acute hepatitis?
- 80% inapparent disease
- 20% acute hepatitis
In endemic countries, do most infants with HBV have an inapparent or chronic hepatitis?
- Mostly inapparent disease
In people with chronic HBV what can this lead to the development in the long term? (2 points)
- Cirrhosis and liver cancer
What is the % risk of chronic HBV for neonates?
90%-100%
What is the % risk of chronic HBV for children?
20%-40%