[The etiopathogenesis of chronic hepatitis in children]

The authors study the etiology of chronic hepatitis, with emphasis on the high frequency of the infection with virus B, with a chronization rate of 15-20%. Taking into account the mother fetus, transmission and the increased number of AgHBs chronic carriers, with serious consequences on hepatic affection, the authors insist on the necessity of antiviral vaccination and of the therapy for virus elimination. At the same time, pathogenetic investigations are made for the presence of nonspecific antibodies and antibodies against hepatocytic membrane, elements which prove the permanent character of the hepatic lesions by immune mechanism, induced by the virus B persistence.