Chronic Infection: A Case Study

Treatment is varied. There are several drugs used to treat hepatitis in the United States. Intron A, Epivir-HBV, Pegasys, Baraclude, Hepsera, Viread, and Tyzeka are the only FDA approved drugs that have been shown to slow the virus and decrease liver damage and in some cases the virus is killed completely ("Hepatitis Treatments," n.d.). Ultimately vaccination is the best way to prevent HBV. The vaccine has been found to be effective and safe. Administration is given over a 6 month time and consists of 3-4 shots ("Hepatitis B," n.d.) and is estimated to be 95% effective. Everyone should be vaccinated but the

In agreement is ………………….which state that “the speed at which inflammation and scarring take place varies between people. Some develop severe liver scarring (cirrhosis) within 20 years. In others, liver disease progresses slowly and does not become a major problem during their lifetime.”

So what is Hepatitis B and what causes it? This is a liver disease that is normally spread through person to person via contact with the following: blood, semen, body fluids from a person with the virus. Most commonly, this disease unfortunately is spread from the mother to her

One such deadly disease is Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is a life threatening liver infection that is caused due to Hepatitis B virus. This virus leads to chronic infection and results in to high risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Hepatitis B has two types, which have different effect on adults. Acute Hepatitis B occurs for short time. People usually affected by acute virus, get well with the time. On the other hand, there is Chronic Hepatitis B, which causes long time infection and damages liver. This virus spreads through the blood and body fluids of an infected person.

Many people with acute HBV have no symptoms at all, or they could be very insignificant and flu-like. Sometimes the infected person may have a loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle or joint aches, mild fever, and in some cases jaundice (yellowing of the skin). Also, some of the patients may notice dark urine and light colored stools. Because Hepatitis sometimes has no symptoms it can be unknowingly transmitted through exposure to blood or other bodily fluids or through intimate

Hepatitis B is a disease that basically attacks the liver. Hepatitis B is a transmitted disease, meaning you can't get hepatitis B unless a persons bodily fluids has been transmitted from one person to another who isn't affected. You can get hepatitis B by also doing common things that doesn't seem like not a big deal, but leads to a big effect later on. For example, you can get hepatitis B by using another person's razor because if you cut yourself with it and they cut themselves with it as well it could lead to infection and easily into your body. Also by sharing dirty needles and being tattooed and that's's why it is very important to make sure everything is completely sanitized no matter what it is. Depending how badly it is you could cause

HBV, as stated above, is a disease that affects the liver by coming into contact as an infant from the mother during birth, sex with an infected partner, sharing needles, razors, or toothbrushes of an

The Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a species of the genus Orthohepadnavirus that is transmitted via blood and bodily fluids. It affects the liver by causing a wide range of diseases, “from acute hepatitis (including fulminant hepatic failure), to chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and potentially hepatocellular carcinoma” (Liang, 2009).

Hepatitis B is transmitted when blood, semen, or another body fluid from a person infected with the Hepatitis B virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. This can happen through sexual contact; sharing needles, syringes, or other drug-injection equipment, or even from mother to baby at birth. For some people, hepatitis B is an acute, or short-term, illness but for others, it can become a long-term, chronic infection. In addition, some people, especially adults, are able to clear, or get rid of the virus without treatment. People who clear the virus become immune and cannot get infected with the Hepatitis B virus

Acute hepatitis b is not life threating, although, according to Berkman and Bakalar, it’s a little unpleasant for a period of time due to the symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, fever, and weakness. Also the abdomen may develop some symptoms directly related to the liver. In the United States, majority of acute HBV infections occur in teenagers and young adults. The long-lasting time for acute hepatitis b is two to three months; however, some reaches up to four months which virus has entered into the chronic form. According to Wilkins, Chronic hepatitis b is the more critical form of hepatitis B virus that leads to complications such as, liver damage, liver failure, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and even death. Hepatitis B has many methods of spreading the virus, such as, through blood to blood contacts, unprotected sex, reused needles, and during childbirth. About 90 percent of infants are infected, 30 percent of children younger than five are infected, and 5 percent for the rest of the

The Hepatitis B virus can effect about “eighteen thousand children less than ten years of age” (Merino 2105). There are about one million people affected with the Hepatitis B virus in the United

Symptoms include diarrhea, stomach pain, dehydration, fever, nausea, and weight loss. In people with a healthy immune system symptoms last 1 to 2 weeks. People with a weakened immune system, such as AIDS are more susceptible to more serious illness.

Hepatitis B is a significant global health problem. It is estimated that more than 350 million people worldwide have serological evidence of chronic HBV infection. During late 1960’s hepatitis outbreaks was reported among patients and staffs in hemodialysis centers. In 1972 - 1977, guidelines were published in UK &USA to reduce the spread of Hepatitis B virus in dialysis units. The Hepatitis vaccine made available to clinical use during 1980’s. With all of these measures the incidence rate of HBV is low, but it is still present in hemodialysis units. The prevalence of HBV across dialysis centers in Western Europe, Japan and the USA showed a range between 0-6.6percent, in Asia-pacific countries its around1.3% and 14.6 %. In the Middle East,

In the case of Hepatitis A, individuals can easily contract it from close contact with infected persons or through ingestion of contaminated food or faeces (London Hazards Centre, (LHC) 2005). There are different symptoms that could be observed with individuals infected with Hepatitis A, such as nausea, lack of appetite, abdominal pain, fever and jaundice to coma and death. This disease can be prevented in the work environment through personal hygiene, good sanitation, and waste disposal. In term of comparison, hepatitis is 100 times more infectious than HIV, and can be transmitted through saliva, blood, vaginal secretions, semen and urine (LHC, 2005). It is a disease that can be in the infected individual’s body without any symptoms. In the United Kingdom, almost 50,000 of the hepatitis B carriers are symptomless, while one third of the infected persons are without symptoms. One third was affected by mild flu-like illness and severe illness confronted another one third for about six months with vomiting, jaundice, nausea, fever, fatigue and pain. Hepatitis if not properly managed can lead to cancer of the liver or Cirrhosis. Due to the fact that healthcare workers like pathologists, surgeons, personnel in emergency departments, dentists and dental hygienists, laboratory workers and personnel in labour and delivery are at increased risk of infection if they are exposed to the blood products, the

Hepatitis B causes considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. More than 400 million people have chronic hepatitis B. In the United States alone, 38,000 people become infected every year and about two to four thousand of those individuals die from cirrhosis or liver cancer caused by hepatitis B (Lin & Kirchner, 2004). One of the world’s most common and serious infectious diseases, hepatitis b virus causes more than one million deaths in a single year! “The incidence of the hepatitis B carrier state in populations is related most importantly to the incidence and age of the primary infection” (Lin & Kirchner, 2004). In low risk areas of the world, the highest incidence of the disease is seen in teens and young adults. In endemic areas of Asia and Africa, epidemiological patterns show that most infections occur in infants and children due to maternal-neonatal transmission (Lin & Kirchner, 2004).