Infectious Jaundice in the United States

Blumer, George

doi:10.1001/jama.1923.02650050007003

Cited by 67 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Whereas person-to-person contact was evident, an alimentary mode of spread was not generally accepted. Although most physicians considered that a respiratory-type droplet infection was more likely (33,54,81,84,92,154), gastrointestinal transmission was predicted by some authors in Europe (2) and the United States (181).…”

Section: Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hepatitis A: Old and New

2001

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The hepatitis A virus (HAV), a picornavirus, is a common cause of hepatitis worldwide. Spread of infection is generally person to person or by oral intake after fecal contamination of skin or mucous membranes; less commonly, there is fecal contamination of food or water. Hepatitis A is endemic in developing countries, and most residents are exposed in childhood. In contrast, the adult population in developed countries demonstrates falling rates of exposure with improvements in hygiene and sanitation. The export of food that cannot be sterilized, from countries of high endemicity to areas with low rates of infection, is a potentially important source of infection. After ingestion and uptake from the gastrointestinal tract, the virus replicates in the liver and is excreted into the bile. Cellular immune responses to the virus lead to destruction of infected hepatocytes with consequent development of symptoms and signs of disease. Humoral immune responses are the basis for diagnostic serologic assays. Acute HAV infection is clinically indistinguishable from other causes of acute viral hepatitis. In young children the disease is often asymptomatic, whereas in older children and adults there may be a range of clinical manifestations from mild, anicteric infection to fulminant hepatic failure. Clinical variants include prolonged, relapsing, and cholestatic forms. Management of the acute illness is supportive, and complete recovery without sequelae is the usual outcome. Research efforts during World War II led to the development of passive immunoprophylaxis. Pooled immune serum globulin is efficacious in the prevention and attenuation of disease in exposed individuals. More recently, active immunoprophylaxis by vaccination has been accomplished. Future eradication of this disease can now be contemplated

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Section: Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Blumer reported that the first known epidemic in the United States was in conjunction with the War of 1812 (33). In "The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion" (the Civil War), Smart recorded 71,691 cases of jaundice in Federal troops (224).…”

Section: Epidemic Hepatitis and Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hepatitis A: Old and New

2001

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“…Early epidemiological studies further characterized hepatitis into infectious and serum forms, based on patterns of disease transmission (17,82,102,103,104). Epidemiologic and transmission studies with humans showed that infectious hepatitis, or hepatitis A, was transmitted primarily by the fecal-oral route (136,137,138).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnosis of Hepatitis A Virus Infection: a Molecular Approach

et al. 2006

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SUMMARY Current serologic tests provide the foundation for diagnosis of hepatitis A and hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection. Recent advances in methods to identify and characterize nucleic acid markers of viral infections have provided the foundation for the field of molecular epidemiology and increased our knowledge of the molecular biology and epidemiology of HAV. Although HAV is primarily shed in feces, there is a strong viremic phase during infection which has allowed easy access to virus isolates and the use of molecular markers to determine their genetic relatedness. Molecular epidemiologic studies have provided new information on the types and extent of HAV infection and transmission in the United States. In addition, these new diagnostic methods have provided tools for the rapid detection of food-borne HAV transmission and identification of the potential source of the food contamination.

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“…The agent of serum jaundice has not been actually "isolated" in the sense that it has been seen, cultured or transmitted to laboratory animals, in spite of repeated attempts by Findlay and Martin, 6 Oliphant and his associates 7 and Sawyer and his associates.8 It is known to be filtrable and to be sufficiently heat resistant to withstand 56 C. for one hour.7 It produces jaundice in human beings somewhat irregularly when given parenterally, with a clinical picture not unlike that of infectious hepatitis (table 1). The incubation period is long (seventy to one hundred days or more) although mild hepatitis may occur early in this long incubation period-many days before true jaundice is actually recognizable.9 Serum jaundice has been transmitted in human beings by feeding serum in 1 instance,10 and it is possible that this has been accomplished with nasopharyngeal washings.6…”

Section: Homologous Serum Jaundicementioning

confidence: 99%