By Professor Mark Thursz, Professor of Hepatology within the Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London
Five viruses, hepatitis A – E, specifically infect the liver and cause acute hepatitis or chronic hepatitis.
Over 350 million people worldwide are chronically infected and are therefore at risk of cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C virus are together responsible for over a million deaths per year. The majority of infections and deaths related to these viruses occur in low and middle income countries. In 2010 the United Nations World Health Assembly passed a resolution which recognised the burden of disease imposed by these viruses and initiated a public health response to viral hepatitis which included the inception of World Hepatitis Day.