Verma HK, Prasad K, Kumar P, Lvks B. Viral hepatitis: A global burden needs future directions for the management. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(16): 1718-1721 [PMID: 35581964 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i16.1718]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Henu Kumar Verma, PhD, Research Scientist, Senior Researcher, Department of Immunopathology, Institute of Lungs Health and Immunity, Comprehensive Pneumology Center, Helmholtz Zentrum, 85764 Neuherberg, Munich 80331, Bayren, Germany. henu.verma@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Virology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Henu Kumar Verma, Department of Immunopathology, Institute of Lungs Biology and Disease, Comprehensive Pneumology Center, Helmholtz Zentrum, Munich 80331, Bayren, Germany
Kiran Prasad, Bhaskar Lvks, Department of Zoology, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur 495001, Chhattisgarh, India
Pramod Kumar, Department of Drug Delivery, Institute of Lung Biology and Disease, Helmholtz Research Center, Munich 80331, Bayren, Germany
Author contributions: Verma HK, Prasad K, Kumar P and Lvks B wrote and revised the letter.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Henu Kumar Verma, PhD, Research Scientist, Senior Researcher, Department of Immunopathology, Institute of Lungs Health and Immunity, Comprehensive Pneumology Center, Helmholtz Zentrum, 85764 Neuherberg, Munich 80331, Bayren, Germany. henu.verma@yahoo.com
Received: August 29, 2021 Peer-review started: August 29, 2021 First decision: September 29, 2021 Revised: October 9, 2021 Accepted: March 25, 2022 Article in press: March 25, 2022 Published online: April 28, 2022
Abstract
Viral hepatitis is an acute or chronic liver disease due to the infection from Hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses. It can cause severe liver damage such as cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. To avoid such fatal complications, hepatitis patients must be diagnosed, pathologized and treated as soon as possible. Furthermore, these hepatitis viruses infect through different routes, resulting in distinct disease pathologies, severity and even the need for specific treatment strategies to combat the infection.
Core Tip: Vaccination is the primary strategy for neutralizing several hepatitis viruses and it is highly effective against most hepatitis viruses. However, additional precautions must be taken for patients at a higher risk of infection such as those who take drugs, prisoners, the homeless or homosexuals. From interferon monotherapy and interferon combination therapy with direct-acting antiviral agents to interferon-free regimens which act by viral chain braking are among the measures to control hepatitis. These strategies can play a critical role in achieving World Health Organization's an ambitious but attainable goal of eliminating hepatitis infection by 2030.
