Viral hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by a virus. The most common hepatitis viruses in Europe are types A, B, and C (commonly referred to as HAV, HBV and HCV).
Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus, a small, non-enveloped hepatotropic virus classified in the genus Hepatovirus within the family Picornaviridae.
Hepatitis B is a liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and is spread through contact with infected body fluids or blood products. Following acute infection with HBV, some people go on to develop a chronic infection.
Hepatitis E is an acute or chronic infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV). In Europe, most of the infections are locally-acquired and asymptomatic.
The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a new beta virus strain of an animal coronavirus that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. This novel coronavirus differs from the previously identified coronaviruses such as the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which caused the 2003 SARS outbreaks.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis infection, ranging in severity from a mild illness that lasts only a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness resulting in cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Hepatitis B is a liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and is spread through contact with infected body fluids or blood products.