Are There Supplements That Are Bad For My Liver
Taking too many vitamin and mineral supplements may do more harm than good to a damaged liver.
What Is The Risk That Hcv Infected Women Will Spread Hcv To Their Newborn Infants
About 5 out of every 100 infants born to HCV infected women become infected. This occurs at the time of birth, and there is no treatment that can prevent this from happening. Most infants infected with HCV at the time of birth have no symptoms and do well during childhood. More studies are needed to find out if these children will have problems from the infection as they grow older. There are no treatments or guidelines for the treatment of infants or children infected with HCV. Children with elevated ALT levels should be referred for evaluation to a specialist familiar with the management of children with HCV-related disease.
Can You Get Hepatitis C More Than Once
Luckily hepatitis C is curable, especially if youre getting tested regularly and catch your infection early.
Unfortunately, someone who has been cured of the virus in the past is still subject to possible exposure and infection again in the future. Unlike some viruses, you can still contract hepatitis C after youve already been infected prior. Even if you have been infected prior, keep yourself as healthy as possible, avoiding situations that put you at risk of infection.
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Is Hepatitis B Contagious
On the flip side, hepatitis B is a contagious infection that can be spread through sexual contact, blood or other bodily fluids. Since this virus is characterized as a blood-borne disease, it can be spread through vaginal, anal or oral sex and also by sharing or using contaminated needles or syringes, as explained by the CDC4. It can also remain contagious outside the body for about 7 days, and people usually do not experience any hepatitis B symptoms. But, while fairly contagious, this STD does not spread through common interactions such as sharing utensils, a drink or kissing. Also, unlike the aforementioned bacterial infections, once you have had hepatitis B, you cannot contract it again4.
Is There A Way To Prevent Hepatitis C
Although currently theres no vaccine to protect people from contracting hepatitis C, there are vaccines for other hepatitis viruses, including hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
If you receive a hepatitis C diagnosis, your healthcare provider may advise you to get vaccinated against hepatitis A and B.
The vaccinations are recommended because these hepatitis viruses can lead to additional health and liver complications, especially in those with preexisting liver disease.
Since you cant prevent hepatitis C through a vaccine, the best prevention is to avoid exposure. Hepatitis C is a bloodborne pathogen, so you can limit your chances of exposure through these healthy lifestyle practices:
- Avoid sharing needles, razor blades, or nail clippers.
- Use proper safety precautions if youll be exposed to bodily fluids, such as when performing first aid.
- Hepatitis C isnt usually transmitted through sexual contact, but its possible. Limit your exposure by practicing sex with a condom or other barrier method. Its also important to openly communicate with sexual partners and to get tested if you suspect youve been exposed to the hepatitis C virus.
Because hepatitis C is transmitted through blood, its possible to contract it through a blood transfusion.
However, since the early 1990s, blood product screening tests have been standard protocol for minimizing the risk of this type of transmission.
Subsequent testing is based on risk. Talk to your doctor about your needs.
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Hepatitis B Virus And Hepatitis C Virus
Both HBV and HCV cause viral hepatitis, a type of liver infection. Other viruses can also cause hepatitis , but only HBV and HCV can cause the long-term infections that increase a persons chance of liver cancer. In the United States, less than half of liver cancers are linked to HBV or HCV infection. But this number is much higher in some other countries, where both viral hepatitis and liver cancer are much more common. Some research also suggests that long-term HCV infection might be linked with some other cancers, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
HBV and HCV are spread from person to person in much the same way as HIV through sharing needles , unprotected sex, or childbirth. They can also be passed on through blood transfusions, but this is rare in the United States because donated blood is tested for these viruses.
Of the 2 viruses, infection with HBV is more likely to cause symptoms, such as a flu-like illness and jaundice . Most adults recover completely from HBV infection within a few months. Only a very small portion of adults go on to have chronic HBV infections, but this risk is higher in young children. People with chronic HBV infections have a higher risk for liver cancer.
For more information, see Liver Cancer.
Five More Covid Deaths 34 Infections In Cambodia
The most deadly ongoing epidemic to date is AIDS, which is caused by HIV , seen here attacking a white blood cell. AFP/US National Institutes of Health
The global death toll from Covid-19, which is set to pass five million, is already far worse than most other viral epidemics of the 20th and 21st centuries.
But there have been notable exceptions.
The post-World War I Spanish Flu wiped out more than 50 million people in 1918-19, according to some estimates.
That is far more than the coronavirus pandemic, even if as the World Health Organization says Covid-19s true toll is two to three times higher than official figures suggest.
Here are some comparisons:
In this century
In 2009, the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, caused a pandemic and left an official death toll of 18,500.
The toll was later revised upwards by The Lancet medical journal to between 151,700 and 575,400.
In 2002-2003, Covid-19s predecessor SARS , which emerged from Foshan, China, was the first coronavirus to spark global fears, but killed just 774 people.
Influenza
The Covid-19 toll has often been compared to that of seasonal flu, which without hitting the headlines accounts for between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths worldwide every year out of around five million serious cases, according to the WHO.
In the 20th century, two major non-seasonal flu pandemics Asian flu in 1957-1958 and Hong Kong flu in 1968-1970 each killed around one million people, according to counts carried out afterwards.
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Ways That Hcv Can Be Transmitted
- Injecting, smoking or snorting drugs with shared, unsterilised equipment.
- Tattooing or piercing when needles, ink, inkwells and other equipment are shared.
- Medical or dental procedures with unsterilised equipment, including kidney dialysis.
- Needlestick accidents to health workers.
- Sharing items that may contain blood, such as razors, toothbrushes, nail scissors and nail files.
- To a baby during pregnancy, labour or at birth.
- From a blood transfusion or blood products before blood screening. This risk is now virtually zero in the UK, Western Europe and the US. However, up to 90% of people with haemophilia who were treated with clotting factors before 1985 were infected with both HIV and HCV.
In some countries, infections still occur from reused, unsterilised equipment or blood transfusions if blood is not screened thoroughly.
Time For Processing Hcv Ab Test Results
The turnaround time for 3rd-generation EIAs is at least 1 day. Many labs do not perform the tests on site and must send specimens to another lab for processing, which may further increase the turnaround time.
A point-of-care test is also available. The OraQuick® HCV Rapid Antibody Test is an FDA-approved test that can be performed with a fingerstick . It is also a CLIA-waived test and therefore can be used in clinic offices and outreach facilities. Results are reported as reactive or nonreactive within 20 minutes. Just as for the standard HCV Ab test done in the lab, a positive OraQuick® test must be confirmed by an HCV RNA test. The sensitivity and specificity of the test is similar to that of the laboratory-based assays.
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Transmission To Patients From Health Care
In the United States, health carerelated exposures are a well-recognized but relatively uncommon source of viral hepatitis transmission . Transmission of HBV and HCV infection via transfusion and transplantation has nearly been eliminated since the advent of donor screening and viral inactivation procedures . In case-control studies of acute viral hepatitis conducted in the 1980s before the availability of HCV antibody testing, no associations were observed with medical or dental care procedures . Health carerelated cases of acute hepatitis B or hepatitis C are rarely reported to the CDC’s surveillance systems . Most instances of health carerelated transmission have been identified in the context of outbreaks in which the source of infection was an infected HCW or other patient.
Overall, few episodes of HCV transmission associated with ambulatory care have been identified. Recent reports of such transmission outside the United States have come from Australia and Italy. In Australia, transmission of HCV to a single patient who underwent an outpatient endoscopic procedure was attributed to contamination of a multiple-dose anesthetic vial . In Italy, 15 of 29 volunteers participating in 2 consecutive pharmacokinetic studies became infected with HCV, possibly as a result of contaminated multiple-dose heparin vials used to maintain each subject’s intravenous catheter .
Who Should Get Tested
You should consider getting tested for hepatitis C if youre worried you could have been infected or you fall into one of the groups at an increased risk of being infected.
- Hepatitis C often has no symptoms, so you may still be infected if you feel healthy.
- The following groups of people are at an increased risk of hepatitis C:
- ex-drug users and current drug users, particularly users of injected drugs
- people who received blood transfusions before September 1991
- recipients of organ or tissue transplants before 1992
- people who have lived or had medical treatment in an area where hepatitis C is common high risk areas include North Africa, the Middle East and Central and East Asia
- babies and children whose mothers have hepatitis C
- anyone accidentally exposed to the virus, such as health workers
- people who have received a tattoo or piercing where equipment may not have been properly sterilised
- sexual partners of people with hepatitis C
If you continue to engage in high-risk activities, such as injecting drugs frequently, regular testing may be recommended. Your doctor will be able to advise you about this.
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If I Have Hepatitis C Infection Does This Mean I Am Going To Have Other Health Problems
Hepatitis C can cause scarring of the liver leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Other conditions have also been linked to hepatitis C and are known as extra-hepatic manifestations of hepatitis C. They include diabetes mellitus, arthritis, hypothyroid, and aplastic anemia among other conditions. Talk to your provider for more information.
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How Is Hepatitis C Spread
Hepatitis C is spread person-to-person usually by direct contact with another person’s blood who is infected with hepatitis C virus. Individuals that share needles are at a high risk to become infected. Surgical and other instruments that are not properly decontaminated can also spread hepatitis C to others. Moreover, some patients that receive organ transplants from individuals that have the virus, but no symptoms, can transmit the disease to the organ transplant recipient.
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What Is The Treatment For Hepatitis C
Because of the sheer number of strains of hepatitis C , there is currently no vaccine.
There are, however, treatments such as antivirals that will manage symptoms and help defeat the virus while the body takes care of it on its own. According to the WHO, Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of persons with hepatitis C infection, thereby reducing the risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer, but access to diagnosis and treatment is low.
If you believe you were maybe exposed to Hepatitis C or might have it, you should speak to a doctor and get on antivirals quickly. Our partner PlushCare offers online doctor appointments with board-certified physicians who can diagnose, treat, and prescribe when necessary. Make your doctor appointment now, and be sure youre getting the best treatment for Hepatitis C.
Enteric Routes: Transmission Of Hepatitis A And Hepatitis E
The Hepatitis A and hepatitis E viruses are both transmitted by enteric, that is digestive or by fecal, routes. This is also known as the fecal-oral route. To be exposed to these viruses, you must ingest fecal matter that is infected with the virus. While there are several ways in which this fecal-oral route can be established, poor hygiene and poor sanitary conditions in some countries lead to higher rates of infection of these viruses.
As a result, some areas of the world, like India, Bangladesh, and Central and South America, are particularly prone to the hepatitis E virus. About one-third of people in the United States have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus.
It is believed that the hepatitis F virus may also be spread by enteric routes.
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Meaning Of Hcv Viral Load
The number of HCV RNA international units per milliliter of blood must be measured before treatment and during the course of treatment, to assess response. Before treatment, however, the HCV viral load is not related to the patient’s liver disease severity or HCV prognosis. This is important for patients and providers to understand.
Note: In hepatitis B, unlike hepatitis C, a higher HBV DNA viral load does correlate with increased disease severity and increased likelihood of outcomes such as hepatocellular carcinoma.
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.
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Injecting Drug Use And Hcv
Worldwide, most HCV infections are related to injection drug use. This includes medical and non-medical settings, through sharing needles and other equipment.
HCV is a tougher and smaller virus than HIV. It can remain infectious for days to weeks in syringes, cookers, cotton, water, measuring syringes and ties.
Cleaning syringes with bleach reduces the risk of HIV transmission, but it is less effective against HCV.
Using clean needles and your own works each time you inject stops both HIV and HCV transmission .
It also reduces the risk of other infections.
If you caught HIV from drug use, you were probably infected with HCV first, before HIV. This is because HCV is a smaller virus that is not easily killed by bleach, making it more infectious than HIV.
Sharing injecting recreational drugs including mephedrone and crystal meth in UK gay clubs and/or sex parties has a high risk of HCV transmission, see this link.
Portals Of Virus Exit
In order to persist within a population, a virus must spread from an infected host to a susceptible host. The shedding of virus refers to the release of infectious virions from the host. During localized infections, the virus is shed from the primary site of infection. Viruses that infect the skin are spread through skin-to-skin contact, and respiratory viruses are shed within respiratory secretions, passed along through a cough or sneeze to a new, susceptible host. Gastrointestinal viruses are shed within aerosolized vomit or diarrhea, potentially contaminating food or water that could infect a subsequent individual. Viruses that replicate in the lungs, nasal cavity, or salivary glands can be shed in saliva, and viruses such as HIV and herpesviruses can replicate within genital compartments and be shed in semen or vaginal secretions.
Viremia is a common occurrence of infection with several viruses, including HIV and hepatitis. Consequently, these viruses can be transmitted through blood. Viruria, the presence of virus within the urine, occurs with several systemic viral infections, including measles and mumps. Other viruses replicate within and are shed by cells of the urogenital tract, such as JC polyomavirus and BK polyomavirus. Some viruses that cause severe disease are transmitted to people through aerosolized virions found in rodent urine or droppings .
Table 5.3. Characteristics That Affect Virion Stability
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Hepatitis A And B Vaccines
There are vaccines to protect against hepatitis A and B. The CDC recommends hepatitis A vaccination for all children ages 12 to 23 months and for adults who plan to travel or work in areas with hepatitis A outbreaks or who have other risk factors. People with chronic hepatitis B or C should also get the hepatitis A vaccine if they don’t already have immunity to the disease. The hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for all infants at birth and for adults who have any of the risk factors we discussed earlier. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C.
Hbv And Hcv Transmission Characteristics
The probability of infection after exposure of a susceptible person to HBV or HCV depends on the route of exposure, the concentration of infectious virions in the implicated body fluid, and the volume of infective material transferred . Transmission of HBV and HCV may result from percutaneous or mucosal exposures to blood. Some body fluids also are considered potentially infectious, including CSF, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid, and amniotic fluid. Feces, nasal secretions, saliva, sputum, sweat, tears, urine, and vomitus are not considered potentially infectious unless they contain blood. HBV and HCV do not spontaneously penetrate intact skin, and airborne transmission does not occur .
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