Hepatitis
                                =========
þ PEG-Intron:
 - Polyethelene Glycol conjugated interferon for Hep C.
 - 50% of people will get fever and headache (and occasionally mental status
   changes) after each dose.
 - may also get thrombocytopenia after doses.
 - may mimic meningitis (check platelets)
 - common cause of depression <Psych.TXT -PEG>

þ Infectious Hepatitis
 - chronic Hep C rarely causes hepatitis [Wiese M, Berr F, Lafrenz M, et al:
   Low frequency of cirrhosis in a hepatitis C (genotype 1b) single-source
   outbreak in Germany: a 20-year multicenter study. Hepatology 32:91, 2000.]
 - chronic Hep C more likely to get cirrhosis if ethanol, too [Harris DR,
   Gonin R, Alter HJ, et al. The relationship of acute transfusion-associated
   hepatitis to the development of cirrhosis in the presence of alcohol
   abuse. Ann Int Med 124:120, 2001.]

þ Drug induced hepatitis
 - idosyncratic reaction (not dose related):  often fulminant; may occur on
   first day of drug use, or after six months; may continue after drug
   withdrawal; if drug not withdrawn, may be fatal.
 - according to Scientific American Medicine (6/97) statistical associations
   with:
  + erythromycin
  + tetracycline
  + sulfonamides
  + ? fluconazole (1 case fatal hepatic necrosis)
  + Augmentin (amoxicillin-clavulanic acid) uncommonly causes cholestatic
    injury
 - Halothane (1:10,000); usually in overweight women

þ acetaminophen-induced hepatitis
 - bad prognostic signs:  arterial pH < 7.3, rise in PT on day 3-4, PT > 100,
   creatinine > 3.4.

þ in infants/children:
 - galactosemia <P-Metabo.TXT -galac>

þ Body Fluid Exposure/Needlestick
        <ID-Fluid.TXT>