Hepatitis
An overview
Hepatitis literally means "swelling of
the liver". It can be caused by a number of factors including exposure to
hepatitis viruses, toxic chemicals and alcohol abuse.
Viral hepatitis is an infection of the
liver caused by a virus that is 100 times more infectious than HIV. Although
many people can fight of some strains of the virus, in some cases it can lead to
to serious liver cirrhosis and fibrosis (hardening and scarring), disease and
cancer. There are 3 main types of the virus: Hepatitis A (HAV), Hepatitis B (HBV)
and Hepatitis C (HCV). HCV has only been isolated since 1989 so not as much is
known about it as is with strains A and B.
There are many different symptoms that
people can experience depending on the strain of hepatitis contracted. The only
way that the disease can be positively identified is through a blood test and
many people may be asymptomatic (show no symptoms) for years, if at all.
However, when symptoms do occur they include:
- Jaundice (yellow skin and eyes)
- Weight loss
- Itchy skin
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fever
- Weakness or tiredness, lasting weeks or
even months
- Abdominal pain
- Diarrhoea
- Flu-like illness
Most people are able to fight off a
hepatitis A infection without medical intervention but it can be more serious
for the very young, the elderly and people with immune dysfunction.
Many people can fight off hepatitis B
and suffer no long term effects. Only 10-15% of adults will go on to have
chronic (long-term) HBV infection. There are effective
treatments for this but the damage caused by the virus can lead to the need
for additional treatment due to the reduction in efficiency of the liver as a
result of cirrhosis or fibrosis.
Fewer people will be able to successfully
fight, and get rid of, hepatitis C with as many as 85% of adult hepatitis C sufferers going
on to develop a chronic (long term) infection. As with HBV, this can cause long
term liver damage (cirrhosis or fibrosis) but, as with HBV, there are treatments available.
There is an effective vaccine against
Hepatitis A and B which is recommended for anyone in the following groups:
- People with HIV *
- Individuals who have many or regularly change sexual partners
- Men who have sex with men
- Prostitutes and other sex workers
- Injecting drug users
- People in contact with someone who has Hepatitis B or is a carrier of it
- Health care workers e.g. doctors,
nurses, dentists, etc
- Babies born to infected mothers
- Travellers to areas with a high prevalence of Hepatitis
- People visiting foreign countries with poor sanitation
- People with haemophilia or those who have regular blood transfusions
- Prison inmates
- People with severe learning difficulties
* The vaccines are perfectly safe for people with HIV to take, although compared with uninfected people, a higher
proportion of HIV-positive people may not develop protective immunity against
Hepatitis B following vaccination (especially if they have low white blood cell
counts), and those who are successfully immunised may be more likely to lose
their immunity over time. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C and prevention
remains the only way to stay uninfected.