الفهرس 
Materials and methodsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Hepat.itis was rec,ogni:zed a. a seriouIJ public health pr()bln
very IOJ’lq ago. Liver disease and jaundice were well known t:o, the
Babylonians and o,ther people of antiquity. BotlJ the Babylonians
Talmud (5th cen’biry B.C. t and the writings o’f Kippocratas alludecl
to jaundice as a dIsuse symptOJlcOIII.plex (Fields 8t at , 1985).
’l’ll” ten ’”hGpatltie” .eanll infla-atlon of the liv,Gr.
Hepatitis .a·Y’ be cill:uBedby’ vinillClJ, bacteria, drugs, toxins, OJ”
,exe••• alcohol intake. s.v.~lll vlnw •• are knownto cause hepatitis
; the most commonones are the hepatitis viru8as: ot:her virus ••
such as oytolallg’alo,virus (CHV) lind !plltehll 1J’1lrr virus IEBV) ay
cause he~tlti:.!51 IUS: well ll.5 other unidentified viruses prellUlllad to
be associated with hepatitis haVe no~ Y.~ been identified.
Regardless ot the caulla, thlil B1~ and 8Yl1PtOJllJOf viral hepatit.b
are simila~ .1tbQugh not identioal.
Vir~l hepatitI8 1& II general t8r111rlilllilwrvadfor In’fection& o.t
the live’t’ caus8d by one Of’ I’llQre o·f at. l __ t five distinct I\epatlt.is
agents. Kost cases of acute viral nepatitilil in cl\i~~enand adults
are caused by oJ’ll!: of the foUoW’inq aqents: hepatitis A virus (HAY) ,
the ,etlo1oqlc al}ent of vird hepatitis type It. (inf,ecUoua he~ti’ti5
or short incubation hepatitis), hepatitis B Virus (HBY) wh1.ch i$
as:s~iated with viral hepal:H~.b t.ype B (•• rum hepatitb or long
i:n¢Ubatlon hepatitIs), a.nd the .ore reoently :r~eogniz.d hepatitis
C,P”ie. etc v.t.~.es. Bec:ause tbese viruses are assocIated with
hepatItis that cannot be ascriba4 to either HAVor HBV.the di_~u5e
wasdesignlltlild non A.DM 8 hepatit.is. The lIO.t notab),e dqn of this
disease is j aundlee. a yellow discoloration ot the akin and
conjunctivae caused by ’the deposition of bile pi9lRents that a
damaqed liyer ~ails to ~$ from ~h6 blood.
Hepatitis A virus is trana.i~ted priaarlly by the fec~l-oral
route. Hepatitis B virus produces sporadic inf.cti~n. incipal1y.