Panel 46. There are 5 hepatitis viruses, simply called A, B, C, D, and E. The two most concerning viruses in terms of public health are the hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) as they chronically infect a very large number of people worldwide (respectively 250 and 70 million). These chronic infections can evolve over the long term into serious liver diseases, even leading to the development of liver cancer.