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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1994 Mar 29;91(7):2401–2406. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.7.2401

Hepatitis viruses: changing patterns of human disease.

R H Purcell 1
PMCID: PMC43379  PMID: 8146130

Abstract

Viral hepatitis is a disease of antiquity, but evidence for more than one etiologic agent has been recognized only since the 1940s, when two viruses (hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus) were thought to account for all disease. In the past 20 years, three additional hepatitis agents (hepatitis C virus, hepatitis D virus, and hepatitis E virus) have been discovered, and there is evidence for at least one additional virus. Each of the five recognized hepatitis viruses belongs to a different virus family, and each has a unique epidemiology. The medical impact of these viruses on society has been strongly influenced by changes in human ecology. This has resulted in some cases in diminished disease and in others in increases in the incidence of disease.

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Selected References

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