Hepatitis Viruses

Which is the really dangerous letter?

By Deane Barker • tags: medicine •

Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are the dangerous versions.

Hepatitis is generally defined as inflammation of the liver. It can be caused two ways:

  1. Behavioral and environmental factors, like chronic alcoholism and some medications
  2. Several virus strains, including those denoted by letters (five of them; A through E). The strains are not related in any way.

To be clear, “hepatitis” is simply liver inflammation. “Viral hepatitis” is liver inflammation caused by a virus. The condition is generally referred to by the name of the virus – for example, someone is said to have contracted “Hepatitis A.”

There are vaccines for Hepatitis A, B, and D.

A and E are not serious. They are transmitted through fecal matter, and are common in developing countries.

B, C, and D are exchanged through blood, often incidental to sexual contact.

B and C often lead to chronic hepatitis, and occasionally to liver cancer.

D is considered “defective.” It can only propagate when B is also present.

Why I Looked It Up

I had heard of the letters for years, but never knew which was the one to get really concerned about.

I remember an SNL skit where Abby Elliot played Ke$ha and ended a song with the verse “…I got Hep C.”

In Cutting for Stone, the main character contracts Hepatitis B from sexual contact with a woman who has undergone female circumstances, resulting in bleeding during intercourse. This condition almost kills him.

Links from this – Cutting for Stone September 21, 2021
Absolutely stunning novel. I had heard of the book for years. My mother was born in Ethiopia in the 1940s (my grandparents were missionaries from New Zealand), and several people had told me that the story in the novel resembled my mother’s experience there as a child. The book was purchased for me...