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Hepatitis B

Epidemiology

Hepatitis B is caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV). This is a DNA virus that belongs to the Hepadnaviridae family. It is a small virus formed by an hexagonal core containing the DNA polymerase and DNA. This core is surrounded by surface antigens (1). This virus is responsible of acute and chronic hepatitis, which may lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. It is estimated that by 2015, 257 million people were living with chronic HBV (2). Although immunization regimens have been implemented in several countries, HBV still represents a burden to public health considering the long term complications it may bring. HBV prevalence varies according different regions, being Western Pacific and African region the ones with the highest percentages around 7.6 and 8.5 respectively (3).

References

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Classification of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) and Related Disorders

Criteria	Symptomatic WM	Asymptomatic WM	IgM-Related Disorders	MGUS
IgM monoclonal protein	+	+	+	+
Bone marrow infiltration	+	+	-	-
Symptoms attributable to IgM	+	-	+	-
Symptoms attributable to tumor infiltration	+	-	-	-

Mesenterial lymph node metastasis from a neuroendocrine tumor of the midgut.Source: WikiMedia commons.