Hepatitis E Virus

This book systematically and comprehensively discusses the biological, epidemiological, and clinical characteristics of the hepatitis E virus (HEV). It presents current knowledge of HEV and explores experimental methods, treatment, and prevention of HEV. First identified in the 1980s and cloned in 1990, HEV is the causative agent of hepatitis E, which mainly occurs in developing regions, such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and significantly affects the health of the people in these areas. It is estimated that a third of the world’s population has been infected with HEV, which is transmitted via the fecal-oral route and can infect both humans and animals. 

In the second edition, new chapters are added to demonstrate the lifecycle, morphogenesis, and stem cell culture of hepatitis E virus. Although research on hepatitis E virus has made progress recently, there are still some problems that have not been solved. Those problems are discussed in this edition, which would be helpful for researchers to understand the problems on hepatitis E virus that they have faced. Meanwhile, the epidemiology, transmission, genetic evolution, animal models, treatment, and others in the related chapters of the first version were also updated according to the most recent research progress. 

 The book provides an overview of HEV from benchside to bedside. It is a valuable resource for researchers in the field and those in the pharmaceutical industry developing HEV vaccines, as well as physicians involved in identifying and treating those infected with the virus.

Dr. Youchun Wang used to be Chief Scientist, deputy director of National Institutes for Food and Drug Control. His current position is professor and executive director of Institute of Medical Biology, which locates at Kunming, Yunnan Province and is affiliated to Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College. He has also held several positions in academic associations, including as the Former Chairman of the Medical Virology, Vice Chairman of Microbiology and Immunology in the Chinese Medical Association, Former Vice Chairman of the Chinese Laboratory Animal Association, Former Chairman of Beijing Medical Virology, and Chairman of Vaccine committee of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. He has worked on medical viruses including hepatitis viruses, human immunodeficiency virus, human papillomavirus, and emerging viruses. He has published more than 320 academic papers as the first or corresponding author, more than 150 of which were published in Science Citation Index journals.