Heptitis - B

Hepatitis-B a well-known disease. Hepatitis-B is the virus that infects the liver majorly. This is of two types – Short-term infection and long-term infection. It is a communicable disease as long as you have the virus you spread it to others.

Hepatitis-B is majorly caused by Hepatitis-B virus; it spread through contact with the blood and body fluids of an infected person.

You may get hepatitis-B if you:

·         Have sex with an infected person without using a condom,

·         Share needles (used for injecting drugs) with an infected person,

·         Get a tattoo or piercing with tools that weren’t sterilized,

·         Share personal items like razors or toothbrush with an infected person.

·         If a mother is infected with hepatitis-B, there is some possibility of transferring the virus from mother to baby at the time of pregnancy.

If we talk about the symptoms of hepatitis-B 

Many people with hepatitis –B don’t know they have it because they don’t have symptoms. If you do have symptoms, you may just feel like you have the flu. Symptoms include:-

1.      Feeling very tired,

2.      Mild fever,

3.      Headache,

4.      Not wanting to eat,

5.      Feeling sick to your stomach and vomiting,

6.      Belly pain, and

7.      Dark urine.

How is Hepatitis-B diagnosed?

A simple blood test can tell your doctor if you have the Hepatitis-B virus now or if you had it in the past. Your doctor also may be able to tell if you have had the vaccine to prevent the virus.

·         Now the vaccine of Hepatitis-B is available. The first dose is recommended within 24hrs of birth either two or three more dose given after that.

Treatment – Antiviral treatment is available and is of benefit to some people with the chronic hepatitis-B infection.

People with hepatitis-B virus infection but no symptoms were once through to be healthy carriers. All people with chronic hepatitis-B should receive regular, lifelong monitoring of disease progression by a general practitioner or liver specialist.

Pushpendra Sachan