Hepatitis is a general term that means inflammation of the liver. The liver can become inflamed as a result of infection, a disorder of the immune system, or exposure to alcohol, certain medications, toxins, or poisons.
Hepatitis is a general term that means inflammation of the liver. The liver can become inflamed as a result of infection, a disorder of the immune system, or exposure to alcohol, certain medications, toxins, or poisons.
KEY FACTS of Hepatitis B:
- Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease.
- The virus is transmitted through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person - not through casual contact.
- About 2 billion people worldwide have been infected with the virus and about 350 million live with chronic infection. An estimated 600 000 persons die each year due to the acute or chronic consequences of hepatitis B.
- About 25% of adults who become chronically infected during childhood later die from liver cancer or cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) caused by the chronic infection.
- The hepatitis B virus is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV.
- Hepatitis B virus is an important occupational hazard for health workers.
- Hepatitis B is preventable with a safe and effective vaccine.
Who is at risk for hepatitis B?
Anyone can get hepatitis B, but the risk is higher if a person:
- Has sex with someone infected with hepatitis B virus
- Has sex with more than one partner
- Is a man who has sex with another man
- Lives in the same house with someone who has lifelong hepatitis B virus infection
- Has a job that involves contact with human blood
- Injects illegal drugs
- Is a patient or worker in a home for the developmentally disabled
- Has hemophilia
- Moves or travels often to areas where hepatitis B is common
Hepatitis B Symptoms:
Half of all people infected with the hepatitis B virus have no symptoms. Symptoms develop within 30-180 days of exposure to the virus. The symptoms are often compared to flu. Most people think they have flu and never think about having HBV infection.
- Appetite loss
- Feeling tired (fatigue)
- Nausea and vomiting
- Itching all over the body
- Pain over the liver (on the right side of the abdomen, under the lower rib cage)
- Jaundice - A condition in which the skin and the whites of the eyes turn yellow in color
- Urine becomes dark in color (like cola or tea).
- Stools are pale in color (grayish or clay colored).
Hepatitis B Prevention
All infants should receive the hepatitis B vaccine: this is the mainstay of hepatitis B prevention. The vaccine can be given as either three or four separate doses, as part of existing routine immunization schedules. In areas where mother-to-infant spread of HBV is common, the first dose of vaccine should be given as soon as possible after birth (i.e. within 24 hours). All children and adolescents younger than 18 years old and not previously vaccinated should receive the vaccine.
Hepatitis B Treatment
There is no specific treatment for acute hepatitis B. Care is aimed at maintaining comfort and adequate nutritional balance, including replacement of fluids that are lost from vomiting and diarrhoea.
Chronic hepatitis B can be treated with drugs, including interferon and anti-viral agents, which can help some patients. Treatment can cost thousands of dollars per year and is not available to most patients in developing countries.
Chronic hepatitis B infection
The degree of liver damage is related to the amount of active, replicating (multiplying) virus in the blood and liver. Regularly measuring the amount of HBV DNA in the blood gives a good idea of how fast the virus is multiplying. The treatments now in use are antiviral drugs, which stop the virus from multiplying.
Antiviral agents, while the best therapy known for chronic hepatitis B, do not work in all individuals with the disease.
Although there are several antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis B approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), research is ongoing. This means that dosages and treatment recommendations are subject to change.
Research is ongoing to find medications that work better with fewer side effects.
Antiviral therapy is not appropriate for everyone with chronic HBV infection. It is reserved for people whose infection is most likely to progress to chronic hepatitis B.
Decisions to start medications for treatment of hepatitis B are made by you and your health care provider, often in consultation with a specialist in diseases of the digestive system (gastroenterologist) or liver (hepatologist).
The decision is based on results of liver function tests, HBV DNA tests, and, frequently, liver biopsies after a complete history and physical examination.
Depending on the results of these tests, you may decide to start therapy or to delay it until later.
Treatment is usually started when blood tests indicate that liver functions are deteriorating and the amount of replicating HBV is rising. The interval between diagnosis and starting treatment can be a year or two or several years. Many people may never require medication.
If you have chronic hepatitis B infection and think you might be pregnant, let your health care provider know right away. If you are pregnant and think you have been exposed to hepatitis B, let your health care provider know right away.
All pregnant women should be tested for hepatitis B virus early in their pregnancy. If the blood test is positive, the baby should receive hepatitis B vaccine at birth, along with another shot (hepatitis B immune globulin). If the blood test shows that the mother is not infected, vaccination of the baby can be delayed until age 2-6 months. This delay responds to concerns that the small amounts of mercury in the vaccine preservative thimerosal could pose a theoretical risk to newborn infants, although no scientific evidence of harm caused by this level of exposure has been reported. When a new hepatitis B vaccine that does not contain the preservative thimerosal becomes available, newborn hepatitis B vaccination does not need to be delayed and can start at birth.
Read More About Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B - The Silent Killer
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