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1-Last month, the journal Lancet reported that a combination of two experimental drugs could clear the infection in eight to twelve weeks. However, researchers are still studying the effects of the treatment.
2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about three million Americans are infected with hepatitis C. The rates are highest among people born between nineteen forty-five and nineteen sixty-five. Those especially at risk include persons who inject themselves with drugs and those who received blood or blood products before nineteen ninety.
3. Hepatitis D is spread through blood, but only infects people who already have hepatitis B. The hepatitis D virus greatly increases the chance of severe liver damage. Experts say the virus infects about fifteen million people around the world. They say it also appears in five percent of persons infected with hepatitis B.
4. Doctors say the best way to prevent hepatitis D is to get vaccine that protects against hepatitis B. Doctors can treat some cases of hepatitis B, C and D. The drugs used are costly, however. But they are less costly than getting a new liver.
5. The fifth virus is hepatitis E. Experts say it spreads the same way as hepatitis A -- through infectious waste. Cases often result from polluted drinking water. Medical science recognized hepatitis E as a separate disease in nineteen eighty. Hepatitis E is also found in animal waste. Studies have shown that the virus can infect many kinds of animals.
6. The WHO says many hepatitis E cases have been reported in Central and Southeast Asia, North and West Africa and Mexico. No vaccines or medicines are effective against hepatitis E. Most peoplerecover, usually in several weeks or months. But the disease can cause liver damage. In some cases, hepatitis E can be deadly.
7. The virus is especially dangerous to pregnant women. Twenty percent of those living with hepatitis E die in the last three months of pregnancy.
8. Scientists discovered yet another kind of hepatitis in the nineteen nineties. It has been named hepatitis G. The hepatitis G virus is totally different from any of the other hepatitis viruses. Donald Poretz is an infectious disease specialist in Washington, DC. He says the hepatitis G virus is spread through blood and blood products. But he says the virus has not been found to cause any real disease.
9. The World Hepatitis Alliance works to increase knowledge about the dangers of hepatitis. The group says people should know that the disease kills about one million five hundred thousand people each year. It also says one in twelve people worldwide is living with hepatitis B or hepatitis C. And, it says, most of those infected do not even know it.
10. Hepatitis cannot be cured. The only way to protect against infection is to receive vaccines against hepatitis A and B, and to avoid contact with the other viruses. And that may be difficult.
11. Remember that some kinds of hepatitis spread through sex or sharing needles. Blood products should be carefully tested for hepatitis. People in high-risk groups and those who have had hepatitis should not give blood. They also should not agree to leave their organs to others after they die. Donated organs can also spread hepatitis.
12. Experts say people can take other steps to protect themselves. These include always washing your hands with soap and water after using the restroom and before preparing or eating food. Experts saytravelers should not drink water of unknown quality when visiting foreign or unknown areas. They also should avoid eating uncooked fruits and vegetables.
STEVE EMBER: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Brianna Blake. George Grow was our producer. I’m Steve Ember. BARBARA KLEIN: And I’m Barbara Klein. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.
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