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- NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - A newly identified virus may be a cause of hepatitis, an infection
of the liver, according to the DiaSorin Biomolecular Research Center in
Brescia, Italy.
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- The virus is being called SEN-V, and is "highly
associated with acute and chronic hepatitis,'' according to a statement
issued by the Piscataway, New Jersey-based company.
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- SEN-V is blood-borne and may account for a significant
portion of hepatitis cases not caused by known viruses, including hepatitis
A, B, C, D, or E, which are linked to 80% to 90% of cases of hepatitis,
DiaSorin officials said. The remaining 10% to 20% of cases can't be traced
to a specific infectious agent.
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- The virus appears to be a pathogen, or disease-causing
organism, said Dr. Harvey Alter, chief of the Infectious Diseases Section
at the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the National Institutes of
Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
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- "We find it in a significant proportion of patients
with hepatitis of cryptogenic origin,'' said Alter in an interview with
Reuters Health. "It's not A though E, and G and TT appear not to be
pathogenic.''
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- Alter added that "it's a virus that's probably been
around a long time, it's just been newly identified with the new technology.''
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- If further studies confirm that SEN-V can cause hepatitis,
then "it will be another tool to account for some cases of hepatitis...
and it could be a potential screening tool for blood,'' Alter said.
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