What is hepatitis?
According to the WHO, hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that is caused by a variety of infectious viruses and non-infectious agents leading to a range of health problems, some of which can be fatal.
The virus has five main strains referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. While they all cause liver disease, they differ in important ways including modes of transmission, severity of the illness, geographical distribution and prevention methods.
In particular, types B and C lead to chronic disease in hundreds of millions of people and together are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and viral hepatitis-related deaths. An estimated 354 million people worldwide live with B or C, and for most, testing and treatment remain beyond reach.
What are its symptoms?
The most common symptoms include:
- Dark urine.
- Stomach pain.
- Yellow skin or eye whites, called jaundice.
- Pale or clay-colored stool.
- Low-grade fever.
- Loss of appetite.
- Fatigue.
- Feeling sick to your stomach.
- Aching joints.
Contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible if you have any or a combination of these symptoms.
What are its causes?
It is caused by a virus and can either be acute (lasting less than six months) or chronic (lasting more than six months). It can be spread from person to person. Some of its types can be spread through sexual contact.
How do we prevent it?
- Get vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B.
- Use clean and safe drinking water.
- Practice good hand hygiene, especially before eating.
- Avoid sharing needles or other drug paraphernalia.
- Use barrier protection (like condoms) during sexual activity
- Ensure safe blood transfusions and medical procedures
- Avoid sharing personal items like razors or toothbrushes
- Repost
How do we manage and treat it?
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There are no treatments to cure hepatitis A, aside from carefully monitoring liver function. If you know you have hepatitis A early enough, you might be able to stop the infection if you get a dose of the hepatitis A vaccine or something called hepatitis A immune globulin.
Hepatitis B, when chronic, can often be treated successfully. The most commonly used drugs to treat chronic hepatitis B are:
- Entecavir (Baraclude®).
- Telbivudine (Tyzeka®).
- Tenofovir alafenamide (Vemlidy®).
- Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Viread®).
- Interferon alfa-2b (Intron A®).
- Peginterferon alfa-2a (Pegasys®).
For hepatitis C, the following drugs are used:
- Simeprevir (Olysio®).
- Daclatasvir (Daklinza®).
- Sofosbuvir (Solvadi®); sofusbuvir/velpatasvir (Epclusa®); sofusbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir (Vosevi®); ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (Harvoni®).
- Ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir (Technivie®); ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/dasabuvir (Viekira® Pak, Viekira® XR).
- Elbasivir/grazoprevir (Zepatier®).
- Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (Mavyret®).
These new drugs are sometimes given with older drugs like ribavirin and peginterferon alfa-2a and peginterferon-2b. You might have to take these medicines for some time, even as long as six months.
If you have chronic hepatitis D, your doctor may prescribe drugs with interferons and might also add medicines for B. Hepatitis E treatments include peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin.
Is there a vaccine for it?
There are vaccines for hepatitis A and B that are available in the U.S. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. Since you can only get hepatitis D if you have B, getting the vaccine against B should protect you against D. There is no FDA approved vaccine against hepatitis E, but vaccines against E exist overseas (for example, in China).
What is the outlook for hepatitis?
Hepatitis A and E usually only cause short-term (acute) infections that your body can overcome. The others (B, C and D) can also cause acute infections, but might also cause chronic (long-term) infections. The chronic forms are more dangerous. Hepatitis non-E is usually acute, but can become chronic.
Most people recover fully from the virus even though it might take several months for the liver to heal. To help improve your health and to help speed up your recovery:
- Avoid alcohol.
- Practice good nutrition.
- If you feel sick, rest.
- Talk to your healthcare provider about your medicines, even over-the-counter drugs or vitamins and supplements, to know which ones you should take and which to avoid until you are recovered.
With hepatitis, your healthcare provider will also be looking for long-term damage to the liver in the forms of cirrhosis or liver failure. You may be asked to take other types of tests, such as liver function tests, imaging tests or possibly a liver biopsy.
