A new flavivirus, provisionally designated hepatitis G virus or GBV-C has recently been described. The virus is parenterally transmitted by exposure to blood through transfusion, intravenous drug use and haemodialysis. Heat- or chemically- treated blood products are associated with reduced risk of infection. The virus may also be transmitted from mother to infant and by the sexual route. Although hepatitis G virus has been detected in patients with acute and chronic hepatitis, a causative role of the virus in such cases has not been established. The majority of long term carriers of the virus appear to have no liver, biochemical or histological abnormalities.

EditorialThe Journal of Viral Hepatitis goes from strength to strength. Despite increasing the number of pages and papers that we publish, we have maintained our strong impact factor rating and we remain in the top 10 list of hepatology and virology journals. Our Internet access data show that readers are reading our papers online and the new, rapid e-publication facility has proved popular with our readers and authors. However, it would be wrong to conclude that everything is proceeding according to plan -many authors have expressed concern about the long delay between acceptance and publication and in the rapidly evolving world of viral hepatitis and we are concerned that our readers are not receiving the timely updates that they deserve. To address these concerns we have decided to increase the frequency of publication of the journal and in 2006 the journal will be published every month. This will allow us to carry more articles and to reduce the delay between acceptance and publication. We are sure that our readers and authors will appreciate this reduction of Ôin-pressÕ delays.The journal continues to rely heavily on the high-quality reviews that we receive from colleagues around the world. Reviewing papers is a time-consuming, but satisfying, task and we are very grateful to the many experts who have helped us to ensure that the journal continues to select only the very best science for publication in the journal.