There are three type of hepatits: Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C. In this article we will understand about symptoms of hepatitis B and hepatitis C along with the treatment involved to cure it.
Hepatitis B is very similar to Hepatitis A in terms of symptoms. But Hepatitis B is very dangerous to cause illness and damages to liver if it is not treated on time. Hepatitis B is spread through HBV virus which is very common all over the world. This virus is present in more two hundred countries and till now more than three hundred and fifty people got infected. It also causes liver cancer or liver cirrhosis. Hepatitis B is spread through the exchange of fluids such as body fluids from an infected person. Hepatitis B virus is fifty to hundred times infectious compared to HIV.
Hepatitis B virus is spread due to unprotected sex with infected person, sharing drug or contaminated needles, body piercing or non-sterilised needles used for tattooing and blood transfusion. It is not spread through coughing, coming in contact with infected person or sneezing.
It is important to understand symptoms or signs of hepatitis B. Several people who get infected with Hepatitis B virus experiences symptoms which is mild or no symptoms. If you are experiencing anything like mild flu, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice, itchy skin and weight loss then you should contact your doctor as soon as possible as these are mild symptoms of hepatitis B. If symptoms are more serious than person may be admitted in a good hospital under supervision of a doctor. If a person continues to live with infection of hepatitis B for many years then the person may develop several complications such as liver cirrhosis, liver cancer or chronic hepatitis. If you are experiencing any of the above discussed symptoms then you should consult your doctor. Doctors will run few tests so that they can identify exact problem. In few countries there are dedicated clinics that help people directly.
If your test is positive then it indicates of any past infection. It may be because of coming in contact with hepatitis B patient due to which they got the virus and their immune system became weak to fight the virus. Patient can himself be the carrier. This means that patient will not experience any symptoms but he might be suffering from chronic infection. A negative result means that the person never got infected with hepatitis B virus and person's immunity system is strong to fight against any virus. If a person feels that, he got exposed to infected person and may get affected then doctor advise to take another test to confirm the status. Few doctors also advise immunisation to fight against hepatitis B.
In many countries patient with positive result are referred to specialist and further tests are carried out to find out the degree of virus affecting liver. These are small test in which tiny sample of liver tissue is taken to carry out biopsy. In many patients suffering from hepatitis B, signs will not be serious and there will be no need for treatment. Patient will be kept under observation for few months and patient will be helped to develop natural immunity to fight off virus. Five percent of adults, thirty to fifty percent of young children and ninety percent of infants become chronic to hepatitis B virus. Virus of hepatitis B is more dangerous to young children and twenty five percent of them are infected from birth itself. Most of the time it leads to death and children must be taken to doctor as soon as possible.
Hepatitis C is similar to other types of hepatitis and causes inflammation in liver. Hepatitis C virus is transferred through blood and it is more persistent on comparing to hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Virus of hepatitis C is spread by sharing drug injection needles, body piercing, non-sterilised needles for tattooing, exposure to blood during an unprotected sex with infected person, STD, blood transfusion and by taking infected blood. There are myths that hepatitis C gets spread by sneezing, sharing water or food with infected person, casual contact with infected person, hugging, coughing or sharing cutlery. But this is not true and these things are not responsible for spreading hepatitis C virus.
Several people do not experience symptoms or signs when they get infected with virus of hepatitis C. They may start experiencing symptoms in later stages. It may take around fifteen to one hundred and fifty days to experience symptoms after getting infected with the virus. There are rare cases in which immune system successfully kills the virus and patient will never come to know about it. But there is risk that person who is not experiencing the symptoms may spread virus to other people. Symptoms of hepatitis C are nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice, mild flu, diarrhoea, weight loss and itchy skin.
According to a survey approximately twenty percent of people who are infected with virus of hepatitis C flush out virus from their body within one hundred and eighty days. This doesn't mean that in future they will not get infected with the hepatitis C virus. Eighty percent of people develop this infection during which they experience no symptoms or mild symptoms. Such people become carrier of hepatitis C virus for rest of their life and spread infection to others. If a person is suffering from infection of hepatitis C for many years then he will develop complications such as liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis and liver cancer. If a person is experiencing serious symptoms then he may be admitted in hospital so that he can be kept under close observation of doctor.
If you are experiencing hepatitis C symptoms then there is no need to worry, you should consult your doctor and share your worries with him. Doctor will carry out few simple tests to determine degree of seriousness. There are clinics dedicated for check-up of hepatitis C and quick action is taken by their doctors. Test for hepatitis C are available from the year 1989 and doctors before that were unaware about it. Doctor diagnoses the virus by carrying blood test to detect antibodies of virus in the blood.
Comments
Post a Comment