Hepatitis: General Health Overview Hepatitis

Hepatitis: General Health Overview

Hepatitis is a potentially serious, virus-caused disease of the liver that appears in humans in five distinct variations. Several versions of Hepatitis are chronic diseases, because their symptoms persist throughout life after infection. Other forms of the disease are strictly acute, because their symptoms are of relatively short duration and leave no lasting effects. Several types of Hepatitis are extremely contagious through contact with infected blood, requiring health care workers to perform diagnostic and other medical procedures with great care to avoid possible contamination (Taylor, 2005).

Vaccinations are available for several types of the disease, and other types are prevented by implementing hygienic drinking water supplies and ensuring that food and water do not become contaminated, particularly with sewage waste, which is capable of causing severe outbreaks when those standard precautions are neglected or where natural or man-made disaster causes a breakdown of municipal functions that normally operate to maintain safe food and water supplies (Bantam, 2003).

Clinical disease presentation is the same in all forms of viral Hepatitis, which, therefore, requires a specific serologic test to identify antibodies of each different form.

The acute symptoms of Hepatitis include general nausea, loss of appetite, jaundice, and abdominal pain (CDC, 2006)

Hepatitis a:

Confirmation of Hepatitis a infection requires a positive result of the serologic test for immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody (CDC, 2006). Generally, Hepatitis a is transmitted by oral ingestion of the Hepatitis a virus (HAV) through fecal bacteria. It is possible to become infected through certain sexual practices involving oral-anal contact, but the most common mode of transmission and infection is by consuming food or water that has become contaminated by fecal bacteria. Therefore, proper hygiene among food workers is essential to its prevention. Infection rates in industrialized countries with modern water treatment systems and sewage facilities is comparatively rare, but the introduction of a specific Hepatitis a vaccine in 1995 reduced its incidence in the United

States by almost 90% (CDC, 2006).

Hepatitis B:

Hepatitis B is a much more serious disease than Hepatitis a, because its effects are life-long and there is no cure. Infection is through the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and it results in severe damage to the liver, including chronic infections, scarring of the tissue similar to what is observed in chronic alcoholism (cirrhosis), carcinomas, and complete organ failure (CDC, 2006).

While similar in symptoms to Hepatitis a, this particular form of the disease is transmitted directly through the blood rather than through superficial contact or through food or water. It is primarily transmitted from patients to healthcare workers through exposure to infected blood by mistakes in procedures involving sharp instruments and needles. For this reason, healthcare workers are routinely vaccinated against blood-borne

Hepatitis (Taylor, 2005).

It is also possible to acquire HBV infection through sexual intercourse and especially through injection of intravenous drugs because IV drug users often share needles. While there is no cure for HBV infection, diagnosis is crucial because antiviral agents are capable of managing its symptoms and minimizing its damaging effect on the liver compared to untreated HBV infection (CDC, 2006).

Hepatitis C:

Hepatitis C is very similar to Hepatitis B, except that it is caused by a different virus, HCV. While it is possible to transmit HVC infection through sexual activity, it is much more often transmitted by blood-to-blood contact in medical settings where universal blood precautions are violated. The most common specific mode of HVC transmission is through IV drug use, but recipients of blood products such as plasma are also at an increased risk, as are long-term dialysis patients.