Hepatitis G and GB virus C (GBV-C) are RNA viruses that were independently identified in 1995, and were subsequently found to be two isolates of the same virus. Although GBV-C was initially thought to be associated with chronic hepatitis, extensive investigation failed to identify any association between this virus and any clinical illness. GBV-C is, phylogenetically, closely related to hepatitis C virus, but appears to replicate primarily in lymphocytes, and poorly if at all in hepatocytes. The majority of immune-competent individuals appear to clear GBV-C viraemia within the first few years following infection and although the time interval between GBV-C infection and clearance of viraemia (detection of GBV-C RNA in plasma) is not known, infection may persist for decades in some individuals. Approximately 2% of healthy US blood donors are viraemic with GBV-C, and up to 13% of blood donors have antibodies to E2 protein, indicating prior infection. Parenteral, sexual and vertical transmission of GBV-C have all been documented, and because of shared modes of transmission, individuals infected with HIV are commonly co-infected with GBV-C. Among people with HIV infection, the prevalence of GBV-C viraemia ranges from 14 to 43%. [1] Some studies have suggested that co-infection with HGV may actually slow the progression of Hepatitis C and/or HIV. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne, infectious, viral disease that is caused by a hepatotropic virus called Hepatitis C virus (HCV). ... Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ...
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Hepatitis G described by Dr. Joseph Smith-dead link replaced with Internet Archive link
The hepatitisG virus (HGV)/hepatitis GB virus-C (HGBV-C) is a recently characterized Flavivirus that may cause acute and chronic hepatitis.
HepatitisG virus (HGV) is a flavivirus related to the hepatitis C virus (HCV).
HGV RNA was detected in 4 of 45 patients with acute non-A-E hepatitis (9%), 23 of 116 with hepatitis C (20%), 25 of 100 with hepatitis A (25%) and 32 of 100 with hepatitis B (32%).
HepatitisG is a newly discovered form of liver inflammation caused by hepatitisG virus (HGV), a distant relative of the hepatitis C virus.
Often patients with hepatitisG are infected at the same time by the hepatitis B or C virus, or both.
There is some indication that patients with hepatitisG may continue to carry the virus in their blood for many years, and so might be a source of infection in others.
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