抄録
Viral hepatic disorders and viral hepatitis refer to hepatic disorders caused by hepatitis virus such as HAV, HBV, HCV, HDV, or HEV. In general, HBs antigen and HCV antibody are using as screening items in health check-ups and medical tests. These two viruses are transmitted from person to person and, in most cases, they follow an asymptomatic course from carrier to chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, ultimately resulting in liver cancer.
Recently, there are numerous guidelines to standardize diagnoses and therapeutic strategies with regard to various diseases, to ensure consistency from one physician to another. While many of these guidelines are revised every several years, those pertaining to HBV and HCV infections are revised every year due to the development of so many new diagnostic and therapeutic methods for liver diseases that only a specialist could possibly keep up.
The present article provides a general overview of viral hepatic disorders, and then focused on the latest diagnostic and therapeutic methods for hepatitis B and C, as well as the government-funded subsidy system currently in use in Japan.
