ABSTRACT
Reports of epidemics of jaundice date as far back as the Greek and Chinese antique worlds [1]. In past centuries, epidemics of hepatitis were observed, particularly in association with military conflict. Only after World War II did it become clear that two etiologically and epidemiologically distinct forms of hepatitis exist. The short-incubation, fecalorally transmitted, epidemic (but also sporadic) form is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), whereas the causative agent of the longincubation, parenterally transmitted disease was recognized as the hepatitis B virus (HBV) [2,3]. Very soon, the existence of additional hepatitis agents had to be assumed.
