· Hepatitis B is a potentially severe form of liver inflammation due to infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It occurs in both rapidly developing (acute) and long-term (chronic) forms, and is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases worldwide. An effective vaccine available to prevent the disease in people who are exposed later.
· When a person is infected with HBV, the virus enters the bloodstream and body fluids, and is able to cut through small breaks in the skin, mouth, or male or female genital area. There are several ways to the infection
Description:
· Usually called "serum hepatitis," hepatitis B ranges from mild to severe. Some people infected with HBV develop no symptoms and are totally unaware of the fact, but they may carry HBV in their blood and give the infection to others. In the chronic form, HBV infection can destroy the liver through a process of scarring, called cirrhosis, or it can lead to cancer of the liver.
· When a person is infected with HBV, the virus enters the bloodstream and body fluids, and is able to cut through small breaks in the skin, mouth, or male or female genital area. There are several ways to the infection.
· Contact with infected blood is a common means of transmission of hepatitis B. One way this can happen is by being stuck with a needle. Both health professionals and those who inject drugs into their veins are at risk in this way.
· Sex with a person infected with HBV is a major risk factor (particularly anal sex).
· Although there are many ways of passing on HBV, the virus is not so easily transferred. There is no need to worry that casual contact such as shaking hands, will expose to hepatitis B. There is no reason for a workstation or even a toilet to be shared with an infected person.
· More than 300 million people worldwide are infected with HBV. While most who are chronic carriers of the virus live in Asia and Africa, no fewer than 1.5 million carriers in the United States. Because carriers are a constant threat to the transmission of the infection, the risk of hepatitis B is always highest where there are many carriers. Such areas are said to be endemic for hepatitis B.
· In infants or young children in an endemic area are infected, their chance of a chronic hepatitis B carrier is at least 90%. This is probably because their bodies are unable substances (antibodies) that destroy the virus to make. In contrast, no more than 5% of infected young people and adults develop chronic infection.
Hepatitis B Symptoms:Half of all people infected with the hepatitis B virus have no symptoms and may never realize they are infected. Adults are more likely to develop symptoms than children. For those who do become ill, symptoms usually develop within 1-4 months after exposure to the virus. The first symptoms are often similar to the flu.
Common symptoms of hepatitis B include:
· Loss of appetite
· Feeling tired (fatigue)
· Nausea and vomiting
· Itching all over the body
· Pain on the location of the liver (on the right side of the abdomen under the rib cage)
· Jaundice (a condition where the skin and whites of the eyes yellow)
· Dark urine (the color of cola or tea)
· Light-colored stool (gray or clay colored)