About the book:
This proceedings is the record of an international symposium on non-A, non-B hepatitis which was the first to be held since the successful molecular cloning of the genomes of hepatitis C and E viruses. Many leading researchers in the study of viral hepatitis have contributed to this book at this critical juncture in hepatitis research. The breakthrough in research on non-A, non-B hepatitis came with the molecular cloning of cDNA representing the viral genome of the non-A, non-B hepatitis virus, now called hepatitis C virus (HCV). Developments following the discovery of HCV are discussed in the book, as is the establishment of assay systems, and the prospect for developing a hepatitis C vaccine, which have generated much optimism for the prevention of infection with this virus through interdiction of transmission to blood recipients and immunoprophylaxis of infection in the general population. The study of another non-A, non-B hepatitis virus, the enterically transmitted form of hepatitis, also called hepatitis E virus (HEV) is also well documented in the volume.