Treatment For Chronic Hbv Infection
For chronic HBV infection, antiviral medications are available.
This is not a cure for chronic HBV. However, it can stop the virus from replicating and prevent its progression into advanced liver disease.
A person with a chronic HBV infection can develop cirrhosis or liver cancer rapidly and without warning. If a person does not have access to adequate treatment or facilities, liver cancer can be fatal within months of diagnosis.
People with a chronic HBV infection require ongoing medical evaluation and an ultrasound of the liver
Side Effects Of The Hepatitis A Vaccine
Some people develop temporary soreness, redness and hardening of the skin at the injection site after having the hepatitis A vaccine.
A small, painless lump may also form, but this usually disappears quickly and isn’t a cause for concern.
Less common side effects include:
- a slightly raised temperature
How Do You Get Hepatitis C
Just like hepatitis B, you can get this type by sharing needles or having contact with infected blood. You can also catch it by having sex with somebody who’s infected, but that’s less common.
If you had a blood transfusion before new screening rules were put in place in 1992, you are at risk for hepatitis C. If not, the blood used in transfusions today is safe. It gets checked beforehand to make sure it’s free of the virus that causes hepatitis B and C.
It’s rare, but if you’re pregnant and have the disease, it’s possible to pass it to your newborn.
There are some myths out there about how you get hepatitis C, so let’s set the record straight. It’s not spread by food and water . And you canât spread it by doing any of these things:
- Joint pain
See your doctor as soon as possible if you have any of these symptoms.
Sometimes, people have no symptoms. To be sure you have hepatitis, youâll need to get tested.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Hepatitis
Some people with hepatitis do not have symptoms and do not know they are infected. If you do have symptoms, they may include
- Joint pain
- Jaundice, yellowing of your skin and eyes
If you have an acute infection, your symptoms can start anywhere between 2 weeks to 6 months after you got infected. If you have a chronic infection, you may not have symptoms until many years later.
Warning Signs And Symptoms Of Heart Disease
Heart disease often develops over time. You may have early signs or symptoms long before you have serious heart problems. Or, you may not realize you are developing heart disease. The warning signs of heart disease may not be obvious. Also, not every person has the same symptoms.
Certain symptoms, such as chest pain, ankle swelling, and shortness of breath may be signals that something is wrong. Learning the warning signs can help you get treatment and help prevent a heart attack or stroke.
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Vaccines And Immune Globulin
Vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and hepatitis B are available in the United States. A vaccine for hepatitis E is currently available only in China. No vaccines against hepatitis C or D virus are available. However, vaccination against hepatitis B virus also reduces the risk of infection with hepatitis D virus. Hepatitis vaccines are given by injection into muscle.
Routine vaccination with the hepatitis A vaccine Hepatitis A Vaccine The hepatitis A vaccine helps protect against hepatitis A. Typically, hepatitis A is less serious than hepatitis B. Hepatitis A often causes no symptoms, although it can cause fever, nausea… read more and hepatitis B vaccine Hepatitis B Vaccine The hepatitis B vaccine helps protect against hepatitis B and its complications . Generally, hepatitis B is more serious than hepatitis A and… read more is recommended in the United States for all children and for adults at high risk of getting hepatitis Hepatitis is common throughout the world. Hepatitis can be Acute read more ).
As with most vaccines, protection requires allowing a number of weeks for the vaccine to reach its full effect as the immune system gradually creates antibodies against the particular virus.
Babies born to mothers with hepatitis B are given hepatitis B immune globulin and hepatitis B vaccine.
When To Call The Doctor
If you have any signs of heart disease, call your health care provider right away. Don’t wait to see if the symptoms go away or dismiss them as nothing.
- You have chest pain or other symptoms of a heart attack
- You know you have angina and have chest pain that doesn’t go away after 5 minutes of rest or after taking nitroglycerine
- You think you may be having a heart attack
- You become extremely short of breath
- You think you may have lost consciousness
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Diet And Lifestyle Changes
The treatment for your liver pain will depend on whats causing it. Treating your liver disease will probably start with addressing what you eat and drink.
The liver is one of the few organs in the body that can repair and regenerate itself.
Research on the livers of mice have shown that a diet too low in protein results in a significant decrease in liver volume, but after adequate protein is added back to the diet, some reversal of liver damage is possible.
Other lifestyle changes, such as losing weight and lowering your cholesterol, are other first lines of defense when it comes to treating the cause of liver pain.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is managed almost exclusively by modifying your diet and exercise routine.
How Is Viral Hepatitis Spread
Hepatitis A and hepatitis E usually spread through contact with food or water that was contaminated with an infected person’s stool. You can also get hepatitis E by eating undercooked pork, deer, or shellfish.
Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and hepatitis D spread through contact with the blood of someone who has the disease. Hepatitis B and D may also spread through contact with other body fluids. This can happen in many ways, such as sharing drug needles or having unprotected sex.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Chronic Hepatitis B
About 1 in 20 people who get hepatitis B as adults become carriers, which means they have a chronic hepatitis B infection. Carriers are more likely to pass hepatitis B to other people. Most carriers are contagious meaning they can spread hepatitis B for the rest of their lives.
Hepatitis B infections that last a long time may lead to serious liver diseases like cirrhosis and liver cancer. About 1 in 5 people with chronic hepatitis B die from it. There are medicines that can help treat chronic hepatitis B infections.
Most babies who get hepatitis B develop chronic infection, unless they get treated right away. But treatments almost always work if your baby gets them quickly. Thats why its important for pregnant people to get tested for hepatitis B.
How Long Does Hepatitis A Last
How long it lasts can vary from person to person. Symptoms can range from mild to severe. Some things to keep in mind:
- Mild hepatitis A may last 1 to 2 weeks.
- Most people are much better within 3 weeks.
- Young children who get symptoms usually get better within 2 months.
If you have a severe infection, it can cause problems for several months. You may need to stay in the hospital.
Some people have symptoms that can last more than 3 months or have problems that come and go for 3 to 9 months.
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Outlook For Hepatitis A
For most people, hepatitis A will pass within 2 months and there will be no long-term effects. Once it passes, you normally develop life-long immunity against the virus.
For around 1 in every 7 people with the infection, the symptoms may come and go for up to 6 months before eventually passing.
Life-threatening complications such as liver failure are rare, affecting less than 1 in every 250 people with hepatitis A. People most at risk include those with pre-existing liver problems and elderly people.
If liver failure does occur, a liver transplant is usually needed to treat it.
Symptoms Of Hepatitis A
The symptoms of hepatitis A develop, on average, around 4 weeks after becoming infected, although not everyone will experience them.
Symptoms can include:
- feeling tired and generally unwell
- joint and muscle pain
- pain in the upper-right part of your tummy
- yellowing of the skin and eyes
- dark urine and pale stools
- itchy skin
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Youre Losing Weight Without Trying
Weight loss and loss of appetite is a common symptom of people with a lot of different diseases, including a number of different cancers and viruses, Dr. Brawley says. A drop on the scale might not be cancer, but make sure to tell your doctor if your other symptoms could be linked with liver cancer.
How Fibrosis Develops
When someone has liver disease, their liver enters into a very dangerous cycle. Persistent inflammation, or hepatitis, sends nonstop signals to repair cells to continue depositing collagen. The extra collagen stiffens around the tissue like it is supposed to in the healthy liver but, instead of a signal being released to stop the inflammation and discard the extra collagen, the inflammation continues, and even more collagen is deposited, leading to more stiffening. This is how fibrosis develops.
When repetitive damage or long-lasting inflammation occurs, collagen and other proteins build-up between liver cells, forming scar tissue. Scar tissue can block or limit blood flow within the liver, starving and killing healthy liver cells, causing more scar tissue to form. Unlike healthy liver cells, scar tissue cannot function or repair itself. As fibrosis advances it can impact the livers ability to function, limit its ability repair itself and restrict blood flow. Over time, the scars in the liver will continue to build and replace healthy tissue. Gradually, the scars snake out farther, covering more of the healthy liver and grow together, or bridge, creating or bands of scar tissue. Fibrosis also restricts blood flow. When doctors want to determine how severe the scarring is, they examine the impact on the portal blood flow. The portal vein brings all the blood from the intestines to the liver to be processed.
Cirrhosis
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What Is The Outlook
With treatment, most people with autoimmune hepatitis have a normal life expectancy and feel well most of the time. The treatment used for autoimmune hepatitis has improved the outlook tremendously. It is very important that you do not stop your treatment too early without your doctor’s knowledge, as your hepatitis may return. Although the condition usually returns at some point after stopping treatment, it can usually be treated again by quickly going back on medication.
There is a very small increased risk of developing liver cancer, especially if you also have ‘scarring’ of the liver due to your autoimmune hepatitis. Some doctors recommend a blood test and an ultrasound scan of your liver every so often to screen for this.
Can Hepatitis B Be Prevented
The hepatitis B vaccine is one of the best ways to control the disease. It is safe, effective and widely available. More than one billion doses of the vaccine have been administered globally since 1982. The World Health Organization says the vaccine is 98-100% effective in guarding against the virus. Newborns should be vaccinated.
The disease has also been more widely prevented thanks to:
- Widespread global adoption of safe blood-handling practices. WHO says 97% of the blood donated around the world is now screened for HBV and other diseases.
- Safer blood injection practices, using clean needles.
- Safe-sex practices.
You can help prevent hepatitis B infections by:
- Practicing safe sex .
- Never sharing personal care items like toothbrushes or razors.
- Getting tattoos or piercings only at shops that employ safe hygiene practices.
- Not sharing needles to use drugs.
- Asking your healthcare provider for blood tests to determine if you have HBV or if you are immune.
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What Is Autoimmune Hepatitis
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. There are many causes of hepatitis. For example, alcohol excess and infections with various viruses are the common causes of hepatitis. Please read the separate leaflet called Hepatitis to read more about the liver, where it is and what it does, and about other causes of hepatitis.
Autoimmune hepatitis is an uncommon cause of chronic hepatitis. Chronic means that the inflammation is persistent or long-term. The chronic inflammation gradually damages the liver cells, which can result in serious problems.
Alcohol And Your Liver
- The alcohol content of a drink, rather than the type of beverage consumed, is significant to the development of cirrhosis.
- Males whose daily consumption of alcohol exceeds 80g are at a high risk of developing cirrhosis for females this limit is 40g per day.1,2
- Binge drinking is less injurious to the liver than continued daily drinking.1
- Women are more susceptible than men are to liver damage and they subsequently develop cirrhosis at an earlier age. The influence of female sex hormones might be a possible explanation for this difference between genders.3
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You Tend To Be A Binge Eater
An early sign of liver disease is binge eating, either feeling hungry all the time or having an intense craving for sugars. These eating habits only add to the fat that is already accumulating in your liver. You have to be cognizant of what were eating because we are what we eat, Dr. Loomba says. And if we consume excess calories, especially calories that are sugar-rich or carbohydrate-rich, over a long period of time, it will have negative consequences. He recommends keeping a food log of what you eat every day to track your sugar and fat intake.
Heres what you need to know about counting calories from a registered dietician.
Side Effects Not Requiring Immediate Medical Attention
Some side effects of hepatitis b adult vaccine may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects.
Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:
More common
- pain at the injection site
- unusual tiredness or weakness
Applies to hepatitis b adult vaccine: intramuscular solution, intramuscular suspension
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Counseling Practices That Educate Support And Motivate Clients Undergoing Screening
Clients might need help deciding whether to get screened, understanding the test results, and determining their next steps. Even when services offered through the substance abuse treatment program are limited, discussing testing with clients presents an opportunity for counselors to motivate clients for change by confronting substance use and by making choices that improve their overall health. However, this may also be true when services are offered on-site through substance abuse treatment programs. A study at one methadone clinic that offered hepatitis screening and vaccination revealed that although the majority of clients completed screening , only 54.7 percent of clients who lacked for hepatitis A received vaccinations and only 2.9 percent of clients who lacked immunity for received vaccinations .
The Consensus Panel makes the following general recommendations while recognizing that, in some programs, the counselors role may be limited:
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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How People Are Infected
Hepatitis C spreads from person to person through blood. Infection can occur when blood containing the virus enters a healthy persons body.
- Receiving a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992, or clotting factors made before 1987.
- Receiving kidney dialysis over a long period of time.
- Using injected drugs, even once.
- Using an infected needle
- Having unprotected sex with an infected partner.
- A needlestick injury in the hospital from an infected needle.
- Personal care and grooming items, such as razors, from infected people.
Many people do not know how they were exposed to hepatitis C. It is often discovered in a routine blood test.
How Does Hepatitis A Spread
Hepatitis A virus is found in the stool of a person who has the virus. It spreads when a person puts something in his or her mouth that has the hepatitis A virus on it. Even if the item looks clean, it can still have virus on it that can spread to others. The amount of stool can be so tiny that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. You can get it by touching objects such as doorknobs or diapers or eating food that has the virus on it.
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