252 - Hepatic viruses infections: diagnostic strategy
Autor(s): A. Conti, M. Pradella
Issue: RIMeL - IJLaM, Vol. 6, N. 4, 2010 (MAF Servizi srl ed.)
Page(s): 252-60
Infectious hepatitis: a worldlwide emergency. Infections by hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) viruses are the most important agents of acute and chronic hepatitis, being involved in more than a half of all chronic liver diseases. They have a major impact on public healthcare both in terms of caregiving need and resources consumption. The challenge involves the Clinical Medicine, but more and foremost, it stands for a devastating social problem in order to determine heavy drawbacks in life expectancy and quality of these patients. No wonder then if the WHO recently defined hepatitis a global healthcare priority, calling for a coordinated effort to effectively face the multiple aspects of the diseases, also aiming to change policies and protocols for prevention and information among different countries. Substantial advances in diagnosis and therapy allow a new and more effective approach. In diagnostic terms, the “classical” serology has been integrated by new tests based on genic amplification (NAATs); they are able to show both exposure and presence of the viruses involved, and can also be used to monitor patient treatment. A major change is on the move due to molecular diagnostics: the very natural history of the disease is changing since we learn more and more about the etiology and pathogenetic mechanisms of different nosological entities such as “occult” viral hepatitis.