Thursday, March 14, 2024

Hepatitis A And C Symptoms

Complications Of Hepatitis A

HEPATITIS C CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT OPTION

Around 10% of people who have had hepatitis A experience a relapse . Most people who have a relapse fully recover.

Hepatitis A does not cause chronic liver disease.

The severity of the disease is more severe in older age groups.

Complications of hepatitis A are rare, but the infection can lead to fulminant hepatitis. This is an acute form of hepatitis that can cause liver failure. The risk of death from fulminant hepatitis increases with age.

Who Should Be Tested

Testing for hepatitis A is not routinely recommended.

CDC recommends hepatitis B testing for:

  • Men who have sex with men
  • People who inject drugs
  • Household and sexual contacts of people with hepatitis B
  • People requiring immunosuppressive therapy
  • People with end-stage renal disease
  • People with hepatitis C
  • People with elevated ALT levels
  • Pregnant women
  • Infants born to HBV-infected mothers

CDC recommends hepatitis C testing for:

  • All adults aged 18 years and older
  • All pregnant women during each pregnancy
  • About 24,900 new infections each year
  • About 22,600 new infections in 2018
  • Estimated 862,000 people living with hepatitis B
  • About 50,300 new infections in 2018
  • Estimated 2.4 million people living with hepatitis C

Should I Be Screened For Hepatitis C

Doctors usually recommend one-time screening of all adults ages 18 to 79 for hepatitis C. Screening is testing for a disease in people who have no symptoms. Doctors use blood tests to screen for hepatitis C. Many people who have hepatitis C dont have symptoms and dont know they have hepatitis C. Screening tests can help doctors diagnose and treat hepatitis C before it causes serious health problems.

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Knowing Your Risk For Chronic Hepatitis C

Because chronic hepatitis may have no symptoms, it is important to know your risk for chronic hepatitis C virus . Risk factors include:

  • Those who had a transfusion of blood or blood products before 1992 .
  • Those born between the years of 1945-1965.
  • Those who have or are experimenting with intravenous drugs.
  • Those who have snorted or are snorting cocaine.
  • Those who have gotten tattoos with a non-sterile needle.
  • Those who have had unprotected multiple sexual partners.
  • Those with HIV.
  • Children born to mothers with HCV infection.

Although these are the most common ways to acquire Hepatitis C, there are other risk factors that can lead to infection. Thus, in 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its screening guidelines to recommend all adults 18 years or older get screened at least once in their lifetime for HCV.

How Could I Get Hepatitis B

Hepatitis A: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

You could get hepatitis B through contact with an infected persons blood, semen, or other body fluid. This contact could occur by

  • being born to a mother with hepatitis B
  • getting an accidental stick with a needle that was used on an infected person
  • having unprotected sex with an infected person
  • having contact with blood or open sores of an infected person
  • sharing drug needles or other drug materials with an infected person
  • being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools that were used on an infected person
  • using an infected persons razor, toothbrush, or nail clippers

You could get hepatitis B from having unprotected sex with an infected person.

You cannot get hepatitis B from

  • shaking hands or holding hands with an infected person
  • being coughed or sneezed on by an infected person
  • hugging an infected person
  • light-colored stools
  • yellowish eyes and skin, called jaundice

When symptoms occur, they can begin 2 to 5 months after coming into contact with the virus. See a doctor right away if you or a child in your care has symptoms of hepatitis B.

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Hepatitis B: What Happens

Many adults who get hepatitis B have mild symptoms for a short time and then get better on their own. But some people are not able to clear the virus from the body, which causes a long-term infection. Nearly 90% of infants who get the virus will carry it for life. Over time, hepatitis B can lead to serious problems, such as liver damage, liver failure, and liver cancer.

What Is Viral Hepatitis

Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. The liver is a vital organ that processes nutrients, filters the blood, and fights infections. When the liver is inflamed or damaged, its function can be affected. Heavy alcohol use, toxins, some medications, and certain medical conditions can cause hepatitis. However, hepatitis is often caused by a virus. In the United States, the most common types of viral hepatitis are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

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How Can I Avoid Getting Hepatitis A

There is a safe and effective vaccine that can protect you from getting hepatitis A. The vaccine is usually given in two doses six months apart. The vaccine will give you protection for up to 20 years. A combined vaccine for hepatitis A and hepatitis B is also available. Since up to 40% of the reported cases of hepatitis A occur in travellers, it is advisable to protect yourself with a hepatitis A vaccination six weeks before you leave.

Consider these additional safety precautions:

  • Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly especially after using the washroom, before preparing food and before eating.
  • Avoid raw or undercooked food.
  • If you are travelling to countries with high rates of hepatitis A:
  • Drink bottled or boiled water and use it for brushing your teeth.
  • Drink bottled beverages without ice.
  • Avoid uncooked food including salads.
  • Avoid food from street vendors.
  • Peel and wash fresh fruits and vegetables yourself.

How Are Hepatitis B And Hepatitis C Spread From Person To Person

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Like HIV, the hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses spread:

  • From mother to child: Pregnant women can pass these infections to their infants. HIV-HCV coinfection increases the risk of passing on hepatitis C to the baby.
  • Sexually: Both viruses can also be transmitted sexually, but HBV is much more likely than HCV to be transmitted sexually. Sexual transmission of HCV is most likely to happen among gay and bisexual men who are living with HIV.

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Hepatitis C: Who Is At Risk

People who have injected illegal drugs at any time, even one time, many years ago, could be walking around with chronic hepatitis C. Because there are often no symptoms, many former drug users may not realize they have the infection. People who received a blood transfusion before 1992 also have a higher risk. Before that year, donated blood was not screened for the hepatitis C virus.

What Are The Risk Factors For Hepatitis B And C

Hepatitis B: Although most commonly acquired early in life, adults can also contract it. Hepatitis B is largely transmitted through bodily fluids. It can be passed at birth from a hepatitis B-infected mother or through exposure in early childhood to body fluids, blood or contaminated medical instruments. Hepatitis B can also be transmitted through intranasal and injection drug use as well as infected tools used during tattooing and body piercing.

Hepatitis C: The key risk factors are also intranasal and injection drug use, tattoos and body piercings, high-risk sexual contact, blood transfusions before 1992 and organ transplantation.

Another key risk factor for hepatitis C is being born from 1945 to 1965, during the baby-boom years. Eighty percent of all people who currently have hepatitis C in the United States were born in that timeframe.

Although the reasons that baby boomers are more likely to have hepatitis C than others arent entirely understood, its believed that most were infected in the 1970s and 1980s, when rates of hepatitis C were at their peak.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend that all U.S. adults born from 1945 to 1965 undergo a one-time screening test for hepatitis C. Connecticut is one of several states that has written this recommendation into law. In Connecticut ,the law requires that primary care clinicians screen all adults born within those years.

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Us Regulators: Hepatitis Outbreak May Be Linked To Organic Strawberries

U.S. and Canadian regulators are investigating a hepatitis outbreak that may be linked to fresh organic strawberries.

In a joint weekend statement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Public Health Agency of Canada said illnesses in Minnesota, California and Canada occurred after people consumed FreshKampo and H-E-B brand strawberries.

The agencies said the strawberries were purchased between March 5 and April 25. They were sold at various U.S. retailers, including Aldi, Kroger, Safeway, Walmart and Trader Joes. In Canada, the affected strawberries were sold between March 5-9 at Co-op stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The potentially affected strawberries are past their shelf life, but health officials say consumers who purchased them and froze them to eat later should throw them away.

There have been 17 illnesses and 12 hospitalizations reported in the U.S., the FDA said. Ten cases and four hospitalizations have been reported in Canada.

Mexico-based FreshKampo, which grew the strawberries, said in a statement Sunday that it is working with regulators to determine how the problem occurred. FreshKampo said the label on the containers of potentially affected strawberries would have said Product of Mexico or Distributed by Meridien Foods.

Consumers who ate the potentially affected berries in the last two weeks and have not been vaccinated against hepatitis A should immediately consult with a physician, the FDA said.

What Happens With Hepatitis A

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Viral diseases generally are contagious. Hepatitis A is highly contagious. It usually is spread from person to person via a fecal-oral route, meaning via fecal contamination of food. It usually is a mild hepatitis, and many people do not know they are infected. The virus is eliminated by the body rapidly, and it does not cause long-term damage. Good hand washing hygiene helps prevent hepatitis A.

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Causes And Risk Factors

HCV causes hepatitis C. People contract the virus through blood-to-blood contact with contaminated blood. For transmission to occur, blood containing HCV must enter the body of a person without HCV.

A speck of blood, invisible to the naked eye, can carry hundreds of hepatitis C virus particles, and the virus is not easy to kill.

The report the following risk factors for developing hepatitis C:

  • using or having used injectable drugs, which is currently the most common route in the U.S.
  • receiving transfusions or organ transplants before 1992, which is before blood screening became available
  • having exposure to a needle stick, which is most common in people who work in healthcare
  • being born to a mother who has hepatitis C

The CDC offer advice on cleaning syringes if it is not possible to use clean and sterile ones. Although bleach can kill the HCV in syringes, it may not have the same effect on other equipment. Boiling, burning and using alcohol, peroxide, or other common cleaning fluids to wash equipment can reduce the amount of HCV but might not stop a person from contracting the infection.

It is extremely dangerous to inject bleach, disinfectant, or other cleaning products, so people should make sure they rinse the syringe thoroughly. A person should only ever use bleach to clean equipment if new, sterile syringes and equipment are not available.

People who are at risk due to these factors can have screening to rule out HCV.

  • peginterferon alfa-2a
  • sofosbuvir

How Can Hepatitis A Be Prevented

To prevent person-to-person spread, careful hand washing after using the bathroom, changing diapers and before preparing or eating food, is the single most important means of prevention.

Foodborne hepatitis A outbreaks are relatively uncommon in the United States however, when they occur, intensive public health efforts are required for their control. To prevent the spread of hepatitis A from an infected food worker to co-workers and/or restaurant patrons, food workers should never touch ready-to-eat foods with bare hands, and should carefully wash their hands after using the bathroom, even if the food worker does not feel sick. Food workers should never work while they are sick with stomach illnesses.

Immune globulin shots are effective in preventing the spread of hepatitis A if given within 14 days of exposure. Immune globulin may be recommended for co-workers of infected food workers. Under certain circumstances, particularly when recommended food safety procedures are not followed by food workers, public health officials may recommend that restaurant patrons receive immune globulin.

For long-term protection, hepatitis A vaccine is the best method of prevention.

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People Who Inject Drugs

People who inject drugs are at high risk of acquiring hepatitis C. The number of new cases in this group of people among those aged 1840 years has shown to increase steadily since 2013. The latest figures from 2019 indicate there are 2.8 cases per 100,000 population.

As a result, the government is attempting to reduce these rates by 2025. However, a reduction of 39.3% from the 2019 figures is necessary to meet the 2025 goal of 1.7 cases per 100,000 population.

How Do You Get Hepatitis C

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Hepatitis C can be contracted only through direct blood contact. In the U.S., the primary mode of transmission is blood exposure through sharing needles. Mother-to-child transmission is about 5 percent of cases. Hepatitis C infection might also be a risk for people who received a blood transfusion or an organ transplant before 1992, when widespread testing of the blood supply for hepatitis C began.

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Hepatitis B: How Does It Spread

You can get it through contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person. In the U.S., it’s most often spread through unprotected sex. It’s also possible to get hepatitis B by sharing an infected person’s needles, razors, or toothbrush. And an infected mother can pass the virus to their baby during childbirth. Hepatitis B is not spread by hugging, sharing food, or coughing.

Who Is At Risk

Anyone who has not been vaccinated or previously infected can get infected with the hepatitis A virus. In areas where the virus is widespread , most hepatitis A infections occur during early childhood. Risk factors include:

  • poor sanitation
  • living in a household with an infected person
  • being a sexual partner of someone with acute hepatitis A infection
  • use of recreational drugs
  • travelling to areas of high endemicity without being immunized.

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How Common Is Hepatitis C In The United States

In the United States, hepatitis C is the most common chronic viral infection found in blood and spread through contact with blood.14

Researchers estimate that about 2.7 million to 3.9 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C.13 Many people who have hepatitis C dont have symptoms and dont know they have this infection.

Since 2006, the number of new hepatitis C infections has been rising, especially among people younger than age 30 who inject heroin or misuse prescription opioids and inject them.15,16

New screening efforts and more effective hepatitis C treatments are helping doctors identify and cure more people with the disease. With more screening and treatment, hepatitis C may become less common in the future. Researchers estimate that hepatitis C could be a rare disease in the United States by 2036.17

How To Protect Yourself Against Hepatitis A

Symptoms Of Hepatitis A Stock Illustration

There is an effective vaccine against hepatitis A that is recommended for all children at age 1. However, most adults probably have not received it because the vaccine wasnt required when they were young. Dr. Fried says you can come in contact with the hepatitis A infection pretty much anywhere, so its a good idea for everyone older than 1 to get the vaccine, whether or not theyve had any known exposure or traveled to regions where hepatitis A is common.

In addition to getting vaccinated, you should wash your hands every time you go to the bathroom and before handling or serving food or drinks. Also be sure to wash and rinse raw produce before eating or serving it. Cooking raw produce further reduces the risk of infection.

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Who Is At Risk For Hepatitis B

Although unprotected sex is the most common way of becoming infected with hepatitis B, infection is more likely for people who have multiple sex partners. Shared needles also are an important means of spreading hepatitis B. Other risk factors are being a health care worker, but infection usually is related to needle sticks. There also is a risk of becoming infected by living with someone who has chronic hepatitis B, in part due to sexual transmission.

Questions To Ask Your Doctor

  • Do I need treatment?
  • What treatment is best for me?
  • Will I need be hospitalized?
  • Are there any medicines I should avoid taking?
  • Are there foods I should avoid eating?
  • Can I drink alcohol?
  • How can I protect my family from getting hepatitis A?
  • If Ive had hepatitis A, am I at higher risk of getting other types of hepatitis?
  • Will I have permanent liver damage?
  • How soon before I travel should I be vaccinated?

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What Do You Do If You Become Ill

Talk to your health care provider about getting tested if you think you:

If you have hepatitis C, tell those who may have been exposed to your blood or bodily fluids. They should get tested and be treated if necessary. Bodily fluids, like semen and vaginal fluid, are a concern because they could be carrying small amounts of infected blood.

Some adults with hepatitis C will recover from the disease on their own within 6 months. Until your health care provider confirms your recovery status, you are still contagious and can spread the disease.

After recovery, you are no longer contagious because you will not have the disease anymore. But you can get hepatitis C again.

Unfortunately, most adults with hepatitis C:

  • cannot recover on their own
  • develop a more serious form of the disease if they are sick for longer than 6 months

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