Question

Summarize the clinical presentation and laboratory findings for each of the 5 types of viral hepatitis

Answer 1

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A (HAV) is spread by eating food or water contaminated with excrement from a person suffering from the disease.

Other causes of infection can be:

-Do not wash your hands after changing a diaper

-Practice anal or oral sex with a person suffering from HAV

After two to six weeks, the person infected with the virus may have some of the following symptoms:

- vomiting and stomach pain

-Fatigue

-Loss of appetite

-Orina dark

-Fever

Yellow colouration in the eyes and skin

Currently there is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis A.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B (HBV) is spread through direct contact with semen, blood, vaginal fluids and saliva of a person suffering from the virus.

You may be at a higher risk of suffering from it if:

-Receive unsafe blood transfusions

- Unprotected sex is practiced with a partner infected with the virus

- Syringes are shared during the consumption of drugs or needles at the time of a tattoo

- Personal items such as the razor and toothbrush are shared

The symptoms of hepatitis B are similar to those of hepatitis A. However, to these are added:

-Fever

- Muscular and joint pain

Sometimes these signs are not noticeable until six months after the moment of infection. There is also a vaccine for this virus.

Hepatitis C

The most common way to get hepatitis C (HCV) is by contact with the blood of a virus carrier. Those people who are at a high risk of suffering from this type of hepatitis are:

- Those who have unprotected sex with an infected person

-The children of a mother infected with hepatitis C

-Those who share needles, syringes or other equipment to inject drugs

-Have received renal dialysis for quite some time

Some symptoms that may occur are:

- Pain on the right side of the abdomen

-Lack of appetite

-Colour-colored or pale brown

-Fatigue

- Abdominal swelling due to fluid accumulation

-Fever

-Itch

-Vashiness and nausea

There is still no type of vaccine to protect against hepatitis C.

Hepatitis D

It is a defective virus that needs the hepatitis B virus to exist. Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is found in the blood of people infected with the virus.

Hepatitis E

It is a virus (VHE) that is transmitted in a very similar way to the hepatitis A virus. However, hepatitis E does not occur frequently.