hepatitis

UK/ˌhɛpəˈtaɪ̯tɪs/US/ˌhɛpəˈtaɪ̯tɪs/

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,785 of 15,258leans written

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, usually caused by a virus. Hepatitis B, contract hepatitis, a hepatitis vaccine.

The main types are lettered A to E and they are quite different diseases: A comes from contaminated food and passes, while B and C can become lifelong and cause cirrhosis and cancer. There are vaccines for A and B and none for C, though C can now be cured.

Definitions of hepatitis

1nounhepatitisAn inflammation of the liver caused by a virus.B2+
“Health workers are vaccinated against hepatitis B because they handle blood.”

hepatitis is a disease.

Where it comes from

Greek hepar means the liver, plus -itis, the ending meaning inflammation.

Latin
hēpatītis
English, today
hepatitis

Built from

hēpar · Latin — liver

From Latin hēpatītis, from la + hēpar. From Latin hēpatītis, from hēpar (“liver”), from Ancient Greek ἧπαρ (“liver”). by surface analysis, hepat- + -itis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

hepatitis in the wild

Acute hepatitis can resolve on its own, progress to chronic hepatitis, or (rarely) result in acute liver failure.
Hepatitis
Chronic hepatitis may progress to scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), liver failure, and liver cancer.
Hepatitis
An estimated 58 million people worldwide were infected with hepatitis C in 2019.
Hepatitis C
Approximately 290,000 deaths from the virus, mainly from liver cancer and cirrhosis attributed to hepatitis C, also occurred in 2019.
Hepatitis C
Diseases and complications related to viral hepatitis and alcohol are the main reason for seeking specialist advice.
Hepatology

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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