Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is a serious disease that is caused by a virus which attacks the liver and results in its inflammation.

Symptoms of Hepatitis A include weakness, headache and fever as well as diarrhea, stomach cramps and jaundice.

Causes of Hepatitis A

Drinking contaminated water
Not washing your hands after changing a diaper
Having oral or anal sex with an infected person

Diagnosis of Hepatitis A

Blood tests are used to detect the presence of Hepatitis A in your body. A positive test result indicates that the patient has either had a past infection or is at present infected. A negative test result means the patient is not infected with Hepatitis A.

Treatment

It gets better in a few weeks without any specific treatment. Get Hepatitis A vaccine to prevent Hepatitis A.

Hepatitis B

Occurs in both rapidly developing (acute) and long-lasting (chronic) forms, and is one of the commonest chronic infectious diseases worldwide.
A person who is chronically infected with the Hepatitis B virus is called a “carrier” of the virus and they can spread the Hepatitis B virus to other people through his/her blood and other body fluids or by sexual contact.

Symptoms of Hepatitis B include acute illness with fatigue and loss of appetite and their skin and eyes turn yellow.

People at risk of getting such illness include:

Men or women who have multiple sexual partners.
People who abuse drugs by injection.

Hepatitis B is diagnosed through blood tests. The tests will show a completely negative result, a positive antibody test (anti-HBs) or a positive antigen test (HBsAg)

Treatment of Hepatitis B

There are two types of treatment now available: interferon-alpha and direct inhibitors of the virus, such as Lamivudine or Adefovir. We carry all the medications for this liver disease treatment.

You can avoid Hepatitis B by

Getting the Hepatitis B vaccine
Adopting safe sex practices

Hepatitis C

Inflammation of the liver caused by infection with HCV is referred to as Hepatitis C.
Symptoms of Hepatitis B include fatigue, jaundice, abdominal and joint pain, nausea and loss of appetite

The most common means of transmission is through injection drug use, sharing contaminated needles or any drug-related equipment or through a blood transfusion. The rate of transmission by sexual contact is considered to be very low.

Hepatitis C can only be diagnosed through blood tests.
If you test positive then the physician will do a follow-up blood test to see the liver condition.
The risk of passing Hepatitis C to your newborn is about 5%. Cesarean section is not recommended and breastfeeding may be allowed.

To protect others from getting infected, keep the following things in mind

Refrain from sharing razors, nail clippers and toothbrushes.
Never donate blood.