Baruch Samuel Blumberg (July 28, 1925–April 5, 2011) — known as Barry Blumberg — was an American physician, geneticist, and co-recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (with Daniel Carleton Gajdusek), for his work on the hepatitis B virus while an investigator at the NIH. He was president of the American Philosophical Society from 2005 until his death.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.Hepatitis is acute if it resolves within six months, and chronic if it lasts longer than six months.Acute hepatitis can resolve on its own, progress to chronic hepatitis, or (rarely) result in acute liver failure.Chronic hepatitis may progress to scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), liver failure, and liver cancer.