Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2021; 27(47): 8081-8102
Published online Dec 21, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i47.8081
Present and future management of viral hepatitis
Rocío González Grande, Inmaculada Santaella Leiva, Susana López Ortega, Miguel Jiménez Pérez
Rocío González Grande, Inmaculada Santaella Leiva, Susana López Ortega, Miguel Jiménez Pérez, UGC de Aparato Digestivo. Unidad de Hepatología-Trasplante Hepático, Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga, Málaga 29010, Spain
Author contributions: Jiménez Pérez M and González Grande R contributed to this paper with the conception and design of the review, critical revision and editing and literature review; López Ortega S and Santaella Leiva I wrote the manuscript; González Grande R designed the figures; All authors approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Miguel Jiménez Pérez, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, UGC de Aparato Digestivo. Unidad de Hepatología-Trasplante Hepático, Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga, Avenida Carlos Haya, Málaga 29010, Spain. mjimenezp@commalaga.com
Received: January 27, 2021
Peer-review started: January 27, 2021
First decision: March 29, 2021
Revised: April 8, 2021
Accepted: December 7, 2021
Article in press: December 7, 2021
Published online: December 21, 2021
Processing time: 323 Days and 11.9 Hours
Abstract

Viral hepatitis can result in important morbidity and mortality, with its impact on health conditioned by the specific type of hepatitis, the geographical region of presentation and the development and access to new drugs, among other factors. Most acute presentation forms are self-limiting and may even go unnoticed, with just a small percentage of cases leading to acute liver failure that may necessitate transplantation or even cause the death of the patient. However, when they become chronic, as in the case of hepatitis B virus and C virus, unless they are diagnosed and treated adequately they may have severe consequences, like cirrhosis or hepatocarcinoma. Understanding of the mechanisms of transmission, the pathogenesis, the presence of vaccinations and the development over recent years of new highly-efficient, potent drugs have meant that we are now faced with a new scenario in the management of viral hepatitis, particularly hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. The spectacular advances in hepatitis C virus treatment have led the World Health Organization to propose the objective of its eradication by 2030. The key aspect to achieving this goal is to ensure that these treatments reach all the more vulnerable population groups, in whom the different types of viral hepatitis have a high prevalence and constitute a niche that may perpetuate infection and hinder its eradication. Accordingly, micro-elimination programs assume special relevance at the present time.

Keywords: Hepatitis viral; Diagnosis; Treatment; Trend direct-acting antivirals; Inhibiting recycling

Core Tip: The various types of viral hepatitis have resulted in important morbidity and mortality for many years. Greater understanding of the pathogenesis as well as the development of new, highly efficient potent drugs mean that we are now faced with a new scenario in the approach to this disease. The spectacular advances in the treatment of hepatitis C virus suggest that we can now envisage its eradication, as put forward by the World Health Organization in its objectives for 2030. In this review we comment on the current situation, recent advances and future perspectives in the approach to viral hepatitis.