Hepatitis B is a type of liver infection caused primarily by the HBV virus. It is most often spread when bodily fluids, such as semen or blood from an infected person, enter the body of an uninfected person. Hepatitis B can be cured with the help of vaccinations and in chronic situations high level medication is required and often doctors may suggest liver transplant.
Hepatitis B symptoms
Acute or short-term hepatitis B does not have many symptoms; rather, it shows none. For example, children under the age of five do not show any symptoms if they are affected. Some symptoms of hepatitis B are as follows:
- Jaundice (whites of eyes and skin turn yellow; urine also turns orange or brown)
- Fever
- light-colored stools
- Fatigue that lasts for many weeks and months.
- Stomach problems such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite
- bread stamp
- belly bread
Symptom manifestations are highly inconsistent; it can take one to six months to show symptoms if you are infected. Studies have revealed that most people do not feel anything when they are infected with hepatitis B. It can only be found out with the help of a blood test. Even the symptoms of chronic hepatitis B do not appear in most cases.
Causes of hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is mainly transmitted from one person to another when bodily fluids are exchanged between them. Those forms are as follows:
- Gender: If you have unprotected sex with the infected person, you will become infected as body fluids, semen and saliva will enter you.
- Sharing needles: The virus can be spread through needles contaminated with infected blood.
- Women pregnant with a child: Pregnant women infected with hepatitis B can easily pass it to the baby during childbirth. Therefore, babies receive hepatitis B vaccines to prevent it.
Treatment and medications for hepatitis B
If you are infected with Hepatitis B, you should immediately consult a doctor; you can get relief with your treatment. The doctor will give you vaccinations and the hepatitis B immune globulin injection. This helps improve your immune system so it can fight the infection. As Hepatitis B affects the liver, we must eliminate all those things that affect it, such as paracetamol and alcohol. You should always check with your doctor before taking any supplements, herbal treatments, or medications. Once you have recovered from hepatitis B, you will become an inactive carrier, meaning that any antibody tests will reflect that you were previously infected with hepatitis B. Entecavir (Baraclude): This is the new medicine for hepatitis B. It is available as tablets or liquids.
- Tenofovir (Viread): This medicine comes in the form of tablets or powder.
- Lamivudine (Heptovir, Epivir HBV, Epivir A/F, etc.): It comes as a tablet or liquid that you take once a day.
- Adefovir dipivoxil (Hepsera): This is given to those patients who do not respond to lamivudine.
- Interferon Alpha (Sylatron, Roferon A, Intron A): These are injections to stimulate the immune system. It does not eliminate the disease; treats problems caused by the disease, such as inflammation of the liver.
- Telbivudine (Tyzeka): This is an antiviral drug.