Reply To: Informal Survey: Hepatitis

Your question is a very broad one.
Hepatitis means inflammation (swelling and pain) of the liver. The liver is important for a range of functions in the body. These include regulating metabolism, making proteins, storing vitamins and iron, removing toxins and producing bile.

If the liver doesn’t work properly, it can cause serious illness or sometimes even death. Hepatitis may be caused by infection, viruses, chemicals, alcohol and other drug use and other factors. Chronic hepatitis means ongoing inflammation of the liver, irrespective of the underlying cause.

The various forms of viral hepatitis are named after different letters of the alphabet. These include hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. They are also sometimes called hep A, hep B, hep C, and so on. While all these viruses affect the liver, they are spread in different ways and have different treatments. The most common types of viral hepatitis in the world are hepatitis A, B and C.

Other viruses may also cause hepatitis, such as the yellow fever virus and the virus that causes glandular fever.