An estimated 32,000 new hepatitis A (HAV) infections and 46,000 new hepatitis B (HBV) infections occurred in theUnited States during 2006, the latest statistics available. Also, about four million Americans are living with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infections. Typically, hepatitis A causes 30 days of missed work. Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV and one out of every 20 people in the U.S. will become infected with HBV sometime during their lives. Eighty percent of those with hepatitis C can become chronically infected and risk serious long-term clinical disease including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Definition
Hepatitis is a swelling of the liver, an organ that helps the body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. Viruses are the most common cause of hepatitis. The infectious virus comes in three primary forms in the U.S. – A, B, and C. The other two less prevalent forms are D and E.
Symptoms
Adults will have symptoms more often than children. Some people with viral hepatitis have no sign of infection. For others, the symptoms may be: a low grade fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dark colored urine, pale bowel movements, abdominal pain, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes).
Types
- Hepatitis A (HAV) - HAV can be prevented with a vaccine. The virus is spread by ingesting tiny amounts of fecal matter from someone who is infected. This can occur through close personal contact or consumption of contaminated food or water. Poor hygiene/sanitation are major contributors.
The CDC recommends routine vaccination for children aged 12 to 23 months and for adults who are at high risk for infection. Those who should be vaccinated include: restaurant workers, people living in dorms, children/workers in day care centers, users of illegal injected drugs, those who have sex with an infected person, people who travel to developing countries, etc.
Wash your hands with soap and water after using the toilet, changing a diaper, and before preparing and eating food.
- Hepatitis B (HBV) - Hepatitis B vaccine can prevent immunity in over 95 percent of young healthy adults. 22,000 pregnant women in the U.S. are infected and can transmit it to their newborns. HBV is spread when blood from an infected person enters the body of someone who is not infected.
The virus can live on a dry surface for at least seven days. All infants, children, adolescents, and at-risk adults should be vaccinated. Most cases of HBV occur in sexually active young adults. 70 percent of new cases occur among people between the ages of 15-39.
Those most likely to get HBV are injection drug users, people who live with or have sexual contact with an infected person, health care workers, and babies from infected mothers during childbirth, etc. Don’t share toothbrushes, razors, nail clippers, and body piercing instruments.
- Hepatitis C (HCV) - HCV is spread when blood from an infected person enters the body of someone who is not infected. Injection drug use is the leading contributor to the spread of HCV in the United States.
Many of those who are chronically infected with HCV have no symptoms. Currently, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C. Between 20 to 30 percent of HCV sufferers are able to become virus-free with proper treatment.
People most likely to be exposed are injection drug users, health care workers, people who have multiple sex partners, infants born to infected women, etc.
Sources Cited: CDC, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases, Hepatitis Foundation International, World Health Organization, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and Washington and Shady Grove Adventist Hospitals. The Health Tip of the Week is for educational purposes only. For additional information, consult your physician. Please feel free to copy and distribute this health resource.