How Does One Catch Hepatitis B

Transporting Storing And Handling Vaccines

Transport according to National Vaccine Storage Guidelines: Strive for 5.87 Store at +2°C to +8°C. Do not freeze. Protect from light.

Infanrix hexa must be reconstituted. Add the entire contents of the syringe to the vial and shake until the pellet completely dissolves. Use reconstituted vaccine as soon as practicable. If it must be stored, hold at room temperature for no more than 8 hours.

Newly Diagnosed With Hepatitis B How Did I Get This Learning The Hbv Transmission Basics

If you have just been diagnosed with hepatitis B virus then you need to understand how HBV is transmitted. This is important whether you have an acute or chronic infection. You must understand you are infectious and can transmit the virus to others.

How is hepatitis B transmitted? Hepatitis B is transmitted through direct contact with infected blood. This can happen through direct blood-to-blood contact, unprotected sex, unsterile needles, unsterile medical or dental equipment, and from a HBV infected mother to her baby at birth. For kids, pediatric experts report that the fluid that oozes from cuts and open sores is also highly infectious, so keep those open cuts covered. HBV can also be transmitted inadvertently by the sharing of personal items such as razors, toothbrushes, nail clippers, body jewelry and other personal items that have small amounts of blood on them.

If you do, or have participated in high-risk activities at some point in your life, you are also at greater risk. This is not a time to judge or be judged.

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

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Who Should Be Vaccinated

Children

• All children aged 1223 months
• All children and adolescents 218 years of age who have not previously received hepatitis A vaccine

People at increased risk for hepatitis A

• International travelers
• Men who have sex with men
• People who use or inject drugs
• People with occupational risk for exposure
• People who anticipate close personal contact with an international adoptee
• People experiencing homelessness

People at increased risk for severe disease from hepatitis A infection

• People with chronic liver disease, including hepatitis B and hepatitis C
• People with HIV

Other people recommended for vaccination

• Pregnant women at risk for hepatitis A or risk for severe outcome from hepatitis A infection

Any person who requests vaccination

There is no vaccine available for hepatitis C.

Treatments For Hepatitis B

Treatment for hepatitis B depends on how long you have been infected for.

If you have been exposed to the virus in the past few days, emergency treatment can help stop you becoming infected.

If you have only had the infection for a few weeks or months , you may only need treatment to relieve your symptoms while your body fights off the infection.

If you have had the infection for more than 6 months , you may be offered treatment with medicines that can keep the virus under control and reduce the risk of liver damage.

Chronic hepatitis B often requires long-term or lifelong treatment and regular monitoring to check for any further liver problems.

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What Occupations Have Increased Risk Of Hepatitis B

In general, occupational groups with increased risk include:

• Health-care workers repeatedly exposed to blood or blood products or those who are at risk of needlestick injury.
• Pathologists, laboratory personnel, or embalmers.
• Dentists, dental assistants, and dental hygienists.
• Certain staff members of institutions for the developmentally handicapped.
• Staff of institutions where workers may be exposed to aggressive, biting residents.

Travellers to regions with intermediate or high rates of endemic HBV infection may also consider being vaccinated.

How Do Doctors Treat The Complications Of Hepatitis B

If chronic hepatitis B leads to cirrhosis, you should see a doctor who specializes in liver diseases. Doctors can treat the health problems related to cirrhosis with medicines, minor medical procedures, and surgery. If you have cirrhosis, you have an increased chance of liver cancer. Your doctor may order blood tests and an ultrasound or another type of imaging test to check for liver cancer.

If chronic hepatitis B leads to liver failure or liver cancer, you may need a liver transplant.

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Who Is At Risk For Hepatitis B

Anyone can get hepatitis B, but the risk is higher in

• Infants born to mothers who have hepatitis B
• People who inject drugs or share needles, syringes, and other types of drug equipment
• Sex partners of people with hepatitis B, especially if they are not using latex or polyurethane condoms during sex
• Men who have sex with men
• People who live with someone who has hepatitis B, especially if they use the same razor, toothbrush, or nail clippers
• Health care and public-safety workers who are exposed to blood on the job

• Abdominal pain
• Yellowish eyes and skin, called jaundice

If you have chronic hepatitis B, you may not have symptoms until complications develop. This could be decades after you were infected. For this reason, hepatitis B screening is important, even if you have no symptoms. Screening means that you are tested for a disease even though you don’t have symptoms. If you are at high risk, your health care provider may suggest screening.

Causes Of Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is spread through contact with blood that contains the hepatitis B virus. If infected blood or body fluids enter another persons bloodstream, that person may become infected.

The time from exposure to the hepatitis B virus to the appearance of the illness is 45 to 180 days.

Risky activities that can cause infection include:

• Sharing unsterile or unclean equipment for injecting drugs.
• Piercing the skin with equipment that is not properly cleaned, disinfected and sterilised.
• Sharing razor blades or toothbrushes.
• Coming into contact with infected blood through open cuts or the mucous membranes of another person.
• Having unprotected sex , especially if there is blood present.

Mothers who have hepatitis B can pass the virus to their babies or children at the time of birth or after birth. If the newborn baby is quickly immunised with 2 vaccines, they can be protected from getting hepatitis B.

All blood and blood products produced for medical purposes in Australia are carefully screened for hepatitis B and other blood-borne viruses. The risk of getting infected with hepatitis B from a blood transfusion is extremely low .

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What Is The Treatment For Hepatitis

Each type of hepatitis is treated differently.

Hepatitis A often goes away on its own and home treatment is all that is needed to help the liver recover, such as:

• Rest
• Avoiding alcohol
• Avoiding certain medicines that can be harmful to the liver

Hepatitis B often goes away on its own in about 6 months, and can also be treated at home with the above remedies. Other treatments for hepatitis B include:

• Antiviral medications
• Liver transplant in severe cases

Treatment for hepatitis C is effective on certain forms of the hepatitis C virus. The choice of medications depends on the type of hepatitis C you have, whether you have been treated for the illness before, how much liver damage has occurred, any other underlying medical issues, and other medicines you take. Treatment for hepatitis C usually involves 8 to 12 weeks of oral antiviral medications, such as:

• Elbasvir-grazoprevir

Who Should Be Vaccinated For Hepatitis B

All newborns should be vaccinated. Also, people who are under 18 who were not vaccinated at birth should also get the vaccine. Other groups who should be sure to be vaccinated are those in certain high-risk categories, such as:

• People who have more than one sexual partner.
• Men who have sex with men.
• Adults with diabetes.
• Sexual partners of infected people and people who share households with infected individuals.
• People who are exposed to blood and other bodily fluids, including healthcare and public safety professionals, and people who work in jails and other places taking care of people who cant take care of themselves.

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Hepatitis B And Your Liver

The liver is such an important organ that we can survive only one or two days if it completely shuts down – if the liver fails, your body will fail, too. Fortunately, the liver can function even when up to 80% of it is diseased or removed. This is because it has the amazing ability to regenerate – or create – itself from healthy liver cells that still exist.

If your body were an automobile, your liver would be considered the engine. It does hundreds of vital things to make sure everything runs smoothly:

• Stores vitamins, sugar and iron to help give your body energy
• Controls the production and removal of cholesterol
• Clears your blood of waste products, drugs and other poisonous substances
• Makes clotting factors to stop excessive bleeding after cuts or injuries
• Produces immune factors and removes bacteria from the bloodstream to combat infection
• Releases a substance called “bile” to help digest food and absorb important nutrients

The word hepatitis actually means inflammation of the liver. Thus, hepatitis B refers to inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus. With early detection and appropriate follow-up medical care, people living with a chronic hepatitis B infection can expect to enjoy a long and healthy life.

Who Is More Likely To Get Hepatitis B

People are more likely to get hepatitis B if they are born to a mother who has hepatitis B. The virus can spread from mother to child during birth. For this reason, people are more likely to have hepatitis B if they

• were born in a part of the world where 2 percent or more of the population has hepatitis B infection
• were born in the United States, didnt receive the hepatitis B vaccine as an infant, and have parents who were born in an area where 8 percent or more of the population had hepatitis B infection

People are also more likely to have hepatitis B if they

• are infected with HIV, because hepatitis B and HIV spread in similar ways
• have lived with or had sex with someone who has hepatitis B
• have had more than one sex partner in the last 6 months or have a history of sexually transmitted disease
• are men who have sex with men
• are injection drug users
• work in a profession, such as health care, in which they have contact with blood, needles, or body fluids at work
• live or work in a care facility for people with developmental disabilities
• have been on kidney dialysis
• live or work in a prison
• had a blood transfusion or organ transplant before the mid-1980s

In the United States, hepatitis B spreads among adults mainly through contact with infected blood through the skin, such as during injection drug use, and through sexual contact.12

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Symptoms Of Hepatitis B

Many people with hepatitis B will not experience any symptoms and may fight off the virus without realising they had it.

If symptoms do develop, they tend to happen 2 or 3 months after exposure to the hepatitis B virus.

Symptoms of hepatitis B include:

• flu-like symptoms, including tiredness, a fever, and general aches and pains
• loss of appetite
• tummy pain
• yellowing of the skin and eyes

These symptoms will usually pass within 1 to 3 months , although occasionally the infection can last for 6 months or more .

How Is Hepatitis B Spread

You can become infected with hepatitis B through exposure to blood, semen and other bodily fluids of an infected person. You can get the infection by:

• Having unprotected sex.
• Sharing or using dirty needles for drug use, tattoos or piercing.
• Sharing everyday items that may contain body fluids, including razors, toothbrushes, jewelry for piercings and nail clippers.
• Being treated medically by someone who does not use sterile instruments.
• Being bitten by someone with the infection.
• Being born to a pregnant woman with the infection.

Hepatitis B is not spread by:

• Kissing on the cheek or lips.
• Coughing or sneezing.
• Hugging, shaking hands or holding hands.
• Eating food that someone with the infection has prepared.
• Breastfeeding.

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What Are The Types Of Hepatitis B

There are two types of hepatitis B infection: acute and chronic.

Acute

An acute infection happens at the beginning, when you first get infected with hepatitis B. Many people are able to clear it from their bodies and recover. In fact, this is true of about 4 in 5 adults who are infected.

Chronic

If you are not able to clear the infection within six months or longer, you have chronic hepatitis B. It is chronic hepatitis B that leads to inflammation and the serious, and possibly fatal, illnesses of cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. Treatment can slow disease progress, reduce the chance of liver cancer and increase your chances of surviving.

Eating Diet And Nutrition For Hepatitis B

If you have hepatitis B, you should eat a balanced, healthy diet. Obesity can increase the chance of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease , and NAFLD can increase liver damage in people who have hepatitis B. Talk with your doctor about healthy eating and maintaining a healthy weight.

You should also avoid alcohol because it can cause more liver damage.

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How Is Hepatitis B Diagnosed

There are three main ways to diagnose HBV infection. They include:

• Blood tests: Tests of the blood serum shows how your bodys immune system is responding to the virus. A blood test can also tell you if you are immune to HBV.
• Abdominal ultrasound: An ultrasound uses sound waves to show the size and shape of your liver and how well the blood flows through it.
• Liver biopsy: A small sample of your liver tissue is removed though a tiny incision and sent to a lab for analysis.

The blood test that is used to diagnose hepatitis B is not a test that you get routinely during a medical visit. Often, people whove become infected first learn they have hepatitis B when they go to donate blood. Blood donations are routinely scanned for the infection.

The virus can be detected within 30 to 60 days of infection. About 70% of adults with hepatitis B develop symptoms, which tend to appear an average of 90 days after initial exposure to the virus.

Prevent Infection After Contact With The Virus

If you think you have been in contact with the hepatitis B virus, see your doctor right away. Doctors typically recommend a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine to prevent infection. In some cases, doctors may also recommend a medicine called hepatitis B immune globulin to help prevent infection. You must get the vaccine dose and, if needed, HBIG shortly after coming into contact with the virus, preferably within 24 hours.

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People At Occupational Risk

Hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for people who work in any occupation that involves any of:

• direct patient care
• handling human tissue, blood or body fluids
• handling used needles or syringes

These people should also routinely follow standard precautions against exposure to human tissue, blood or body fluids.19

The risk to people in certain occupations differs considerably between settings in different parts of Australia. Workers who have an increased risk of acquiring hepatitis B include:

• healthcare workers
• police, members of the armed forces, emergency services staff and staff of correctional facilities, if they are assigned to duties that may involve exposure to human tissue, blood or body fluids
• funeral workers, embalmers and other workers who have regular contact with human tissue, blood or body fluids, or used needles or syringes
• staff involved in both residential and non-residential care of people with developmental disabilities, because of the high prevalence of markers of past or current infection in people in this setting16-18
• workers who perform skin penetration procedures, such as tattooists and body-piercers

Early childhood educators and carers are normally at minimal risk of hepatitis B transmission. The local public health authority can provide advice about risk if needed.

Adult-formulation hepatitis B vaccine should be given in a 3-dose schedule. See Table. Monovalent hepatitis B vaccines for adolescents and adults in Vaccines, dosage and administration.

How Do I Know If I Have Hepatitis C Virus

Diagnosis of hepatitis C virus requires a blood test your doctor can order. Other blood tests can determine which subtype of HCV you have to better target your drug treatment, if needed. Your doctor will also want to know your viral load . In some patients, a liver biopsy is required to determine the level of damage.

Symptoms of chronic HCV may not appear for 2 to 3 decades after infection, so the disease may develop silently in your body for many years. This is the reason you should be tested for HCV infection, to start treatment if needed and to help protect your liver from damage.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone 18 years or older be tested for hepatitis C virus at least once in their lifetime. Women should be tested for hepatitis C testing during each pregnancy. Some high risk groups may need more frequent testing, such as people who share drug preparation equipment and those on hemodialysis.

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