Reticulum Rex Medical Centre

Posts Tagged ‘virus’

Because of its dependence on the hepatitis B virus, hepatitis D diagnosis requires the presence of hepatitis surface antigen (HBsAg). It has the following diagnostic tests:

D antigen (HDAg): Your blood screening is not performed routinely, as the antigen circulates bound in complex with the antibody. Their detection is usually transient during acute infection.

RNA: The detection can be performed by hybridization (detection limit from 104 to 106 copies/mL) or PCR (detection limit 10 copies/mL).

Antibodies: the standard in the diagnosis of infection with hepatitis D are total antibodies (IgM + IgG). Appear late in acute infection and are present in high titers during chronic infection. In the acute infection resolved, the titles tend to decrease over time. IgM is maintained over time and its securities are correlated with replication and hepatic inflammatory activity. Read the rest of this entry »

Infection with hepatitis D always occurs in the presence of infection with hepatitis B virus. Usually the hepatitis D virus inhibits HBV replication, so that liver disease is caused by D virus in patients with chronic infection. It can be distinguished 3 clinical forms of infection:

Co-infection: This occurs with exposure of an individual susceptible to the virus simultaneously B and D. Its clinical presentation is indistinguishable from a classical hepatitis B, although often more serious and can have a biphasic course. Frequently recovered, since it depends on B virus for replication. The rate of chronicity of hepatitis B (5% in adults) is not affected by the presence of infection by viruses D. Read the rest of this entry »

It is estimated that approximately 5% of people chronically infected with hepatitis B virus are also infected with D, which represents about 15 million infected worldwide. The infection is not always directly related to the prevalence of infection with hepatitis B virus

The routes of transmission are similar to those for hepatitis B, with parenteral transmission. It is interesting to note that your transmission is apparently lower in homosexuals, intravenous drug users predominate in hemophiliacs.

The infection is endemic in the Mediterranean basin, particularly in southern Italy (where the virus was described for the first time.) Has also been reported in the Far East, Pacific Islands and parts of South America. There has been described in Chile. The incidence of infection is probably in decline. Read the rest of this entry »

Structure of hepatitis D (Delta) Virus

Hepatitis D virus, also called delta virus or agent is a defective virus that requires the presence of hepatitis B virus to replicate. We can distinguish the following components in its structure:

Outline of the structure of hepatitis D virus The virus has a single circular strand of RNA associated with a protein antigen (HDV). There are 70 HDV antigen molecules per viral particle. This structure is surrounded by a housing that includes lipoprotein surface antigen of hepatitis B virus (HBsAg). Read the rest of this entry »