Fulminant hepatitis B

Abstract

Fulminant hepatitis, or fulminant hepatic failure, is defined as a clinical syndrome of severe liver function impairment, which causes hepatic coma and the decrease in synthesizing capacity of liver, and develops within eight weeks of the onset of hepatitis. Several independent factors influence the survival of patients: age, the cause of liver disease, the degree and the duration of encephalopathy in relation to the onset of the disease, and the prevention of complications. Over the years many intensive treatments have been practiced. Liver transplantation is expensive, and patients who survive transplantation require life-long immunosuppression, clinical care and complications management. Without transplantation fulminant hepatitis and hepatic failure might be completely recovered spontaneously, and the patient could expect a normal life. Two cases of fulminant B hepatitis with intensive care treatment, and their survival despite unfavorable prognosis are presented in this paper. The management of patients with fulminant hepatitis required intensive monitoring and therapeutic measures, including corticosteroids. The prognosis for survival without transplantation in fulminant hepatitis is limited by the measures of medical treatment and new specific therapeutic modalities which must be developed through basic research.

Cases of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in North Macedonia, July to August 2023

“…Subsequently, CCHF cases were mainly reported in neighbouring Kosovo*: two cases in 1989 and followed by two cases in 1993 and outbreaks comprising 45 cases in 1995, eight cases in 1996 and seven in 1997 [ 5 ]. Central Serbia also reported one case in 1999 from a person who acquired the infection while staying in Kosovo [ 6 ]. Infections occurred between March and September, and all affected individuals were living in rural areas where animal husbandry and agriculture were their main source of income [ 5 ].…”