HEPATITIS-C VIRUS - A HISTORICAL-PERSPECTIVE

Identification and diagnosis of the infecting agent responsible for he patitis C have only recently occurred. Recognition of an infecting age nt distinct from that resulting in hepatitis A or B was made approxima tely 50 years ago, However, the ability to screen and detect this agen t was possible only after molecular biology studies which led to the c loning of parts of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the development of a diagnostic antibody test reported by Michael Houghton and colleagues in 1989. The discovery and cloning of HCV has led to a greater unders tanding of its relationship to acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, and extrahepatic conditions including essential cryoglobulinemia, glomerulonephritis, and serum autoantibody positivi ty. New antibody tests and quantitation of HCV-RNA have allowed better diagnosis of infectivity and monitoring of treatment effects. HCV gen otypes are being related to the natural history of the disease and the effects of treatment. Research continues on HCV hepatitis and other n ewly identified viral hepatitis agents.