Prevention Of Viral Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E, G

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Prevention of viral hepatitis

Different in symptomatology, but equally dangerous in the severity and irreversibility of the consequences of the infection, constituting a whole group of diseases caused by hepatitis and affecting the liver, are known to mankind as "jaundice".

Even the most hardened organism and the strongest immune system are almost powerless against these viruses. The fight against the "clan" of hepatitis is quite real, and it gives the maximum effect in the form of prevention.

Hepatitis is just the case when the banal truth: "It is easier to prevent than to cure" proves its historical correctness, since viral hepatitis is of an insidious nature, and some of them are life-threatening. Therefore, preventive measures are always appropriate and always effective, because it is thanks to prevention that 60 out of 100 people manage to avoid infection.

Acute and chronic forms of diseases

With an adequate response of the immune system to the appearance of a foreign micro-object (virus) in the body, the program for the destruction of an aggressive pathogen is "turned on", allowing you to cope with the disease on your own. Certainly some medications, bed rest, and a special diet are needed.

Subject to medical recommendations, the disease recedes in a couple of weeks, leaving behind damaged liver cells and the need for a patient's diet. This is the so-called mild form - acute hepatitis. Basically, it is caused by the pathogen of group A and does not cause much damage to the body.

But there are also more dangerous hepatitis that can erase not only liver health, but also endanger human life. This is possible for hepatitis B and C.

If at the time of infection the immunity turned out to be weakened and not ready to repel viral attacks, then the probability of the disease turning into a severe chronic form is not excluded.

Prevention of hepatitis A

Among the most common and dangerous "diseases of unwashed hands", hepatitis A confidently holds the lead. The group at risk of infection includes, first of all, children of preschool and primary school age, who, due to their expressiveness and impatience, consume unwashed fruits or rush to grab a sandwich with dirty hands, or have not given up the habit of pulling fingers, toys, pencils into their mouths.

Such carelessness leads to infection with hepatitis and can jeopardize the health of the entire family, since the virus is transmitted by the fecal-oral route. This type of transmission can cause an epidemic, as happened in the Czech Republic in 2008.

The main routes of infection:

• contact with an infected person, the use of common hygiene items;
• upon contact with contaminated water;
• eating vaccinated food.

Symptoms:

• the first three days after the incubation period - an increase in temperature to 40 ⁰;
• in parallel with the appearance of cough, runny nose and lacrimation - photophobia, uncharacteristic of colds;
• nausea and loss of appetite;
• headache.

It should be emphasized that the symptoms also depend on the age of the patient: children never show a complete clinical picture, their skin color remains normal throughout the entire period of the disease. Yellowing of the skin is observed only in adults. If the yellowness began to show through more and more noticeably, know that the disease has passed into a non-dangerous stage. Often, yellowing of the skin is accompanied by a decrease in temperature and the disappearance of pain.

Preventive measures:

• avoid drinking water from unfamiliar sources, do not swim in reservoirs of dubious purity. This also applies to too "densely populated" beaches during the summer heat, as well as reservoirs into which sewage water flows;
• be sure to observe basic hygiene standards and wash your hands after each visit to the toilet, after coming from the street and before eating;
• maintain cleanliness in the premises;
• personal hygiene items must have one owner, they cannot be shared with others;
• it is imperative and very thorough to wash vegetables and fruits before using in clean running water;
• under no circumstances should uncompost manure be used as fertilizer.

Read more: Hepatitis A - symptoms, causes of infection, prevention and treatment

Prevention of hepatitis E

The virus of group E, which is very close in its course and routes of infection, to hepatitis A. For some time it was considered a type of hepatitis A, but the disease proved its independence, affecting people of a certain age - from 15 to 30 years.

Mainly men are at risk of infection, but if a pregnant woman falls ill, then all the forces of both doctors and her own body must be thrown to the rescue. There is no official explanation yet, but the fact remains that every fifth person does not survive after hepatitis E.

Symptoms:

• nausea;
• temperature increase;
• lack of appetite;
• weakness;
• yellowing of the skin occurs 4-10 days after the first signs of the disease appear.

Preventive measures:

• since the virus is widespread in the countries of Central Asia, going there on a tourist or business trip, special attention should be paid to the quality of water - drink only bottled or boiled;
• wash vegetables and fruits only with clean water.

Read more: Hepatitis E - symptoms, causes, treatment

Prevention of hepatitis B

The most dangerous and intractable of hepatitis, affecting people of the most "blooming" age - from 20 to 40 years. Perhaps this is predetermined by one of the reasons for the transmission of the pathogen - the virus is easy to "pick up" by practicing casual sex.

It is problematic that the diagnosis of hepatitis B is impossible without laboratory tests and the fact that it "has" a fairly long incubation period - up to 120 days.

Infection routes:

• sexually in the absence of a permanent partner and hobby for casual relationships;
• with blood transfusion (10 ml of serum containing the virus is enough for infection);
• when using infected piercing and cutting household items and personal hygiene;
• with the negligence of the medical staff (poorly disinfected instruments);
• when using contaminated instruments in nail salons and dental clinics;
• from mother to fetus during gestation.

Symptoms

The first manifestations are rather sluggish and blurred, so it is very difficult to determine the disease:

• nausea and vomiting;
• loss of appetite;
• discomfort in the stomach, expressed by "stone" weight;
• joint pain;
• distinct pain in the right hypochondrium.

Preventive measures:

• avoidance of promiscuous sex life, and in case of sexual intercourse with an unfamiliar partner - the obligatory use of a condom;
• availability of disposable instruments for clinical blood analysis;
• strict control by medical workers over the use and disinfection of devices and instruments;
• it is forbidden to give personal hygiene items for temporary use (shaving machines, scissors, manicure sets);
• vaccination remains the most effective prevention.

The risk group for contracting the most insidious and dangerous of hepatitis includes physicians working with blood, patients undergoing surgery, children born to an infected mother, people who have a dissolute sex life, and drug addicts.

Read more: Hepatitis B - symptoms of manifestation, causes of infection, prevention and treatment

Prevention of hepatitis C

The danger of class C hepatitis lies in its ability to create a variety of subtypes and in the absence of pronounced symptoms. As practice shows, the disease is diagnosed absolutely by accident, and meanwhile, more than 2% of the world's population is infected with hepatitis C.

Anyone can be at risk, but the most susceptible are the regulars of tattoo parlors, children whose mothers had this disease during pregnancy, and patients in surgical departments.

A characteristic feature and, as already mentioned, the main insidiousness of hepatitis C is its rapid development into cirrhosis after an imperceptible period of development.

Infection routes:

• through non-sterile instruments and personal hygiene items;
• from mother to fetus;
• with blood transfusion;
• during intercourse.

Symptoms:

• feeling weak and weak;
• fast fatiguability;
• joint pain;
• upset digestion.

The first clinical signs after infection can appear in 2-3 weeks and after 12 months, and the transition of an acute form of the disease to a chronic one can last for several years. It is possible that cirrhosis or a malignant tumor of the liver can become the consequences of hepatitis C.

Reactive measures:

• Exercise extreme caution when choosing a dental clinic, tattoo, or nail salon;
• do not allow strangers to use your personal hygiene items, in this case even family members are considered outsiders);
• be selective in intercourse or always carry a condom with you.

Diagnostics

To detect the hepatitis C virus, a biochemical blood test, an analysis for antibodies to the virus and a general blood test, as well as a number of studies, including an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, are used.

To combat the disease caused by the class C virus, many effective drugs have been invented - therefore, with timely and accurate diagnosis, the risk of its development and the occurrence of complications can be minimized. However, a vaccine against hepatitis C does not yet exist, only your discretion and caution should be used as a "vaccine".

Read more: Hepatitis C - symptoms, genotypes, how it is transmitted and treatment

Prevention of hepatitis D

This virus is defined as parasitic, unable to exist without the hepatitis B virus envelope, which serves as an auxiliary component for the spread of the virus in the human body.

The genetic information of the virus is contained in the RNA molecule, and the already mentioned white coat serves as the "packaging".

A characteristic complication of the course of the disease caused by hepatitis D is one of the most serious diseases - hepatic coma.

Infection routes:

• parenteral (from the carrier, bypassing the protective barriers of the body);
• through wounds, cuts, by injections;
• when having intercourse.

Symptoms:

• fever;
• painful sensations in the liver (manifested in 50% of those infected);
• so-called wandering joint pain. Felt in the knees, elbows;
• nausea;
• lack of appetite;
• weakness and fatigue;
• sensations of a swollen liver or spleen are possible.

Preventive measures:

• control over the quality of donor blood;
• effective disinfection measures for medical instruments;
• disinfection of equipment in cosmetic, manicure and tattoo parlors;
• using condoms during intercourse;
• vaccination with a drug intended for the prevention of hepatitis B;
• public awareness of safety measures and disease prevention.

Read more: Hepatitis D - symptoms, causes, treatment

Prevention of hepatitis G

Even physicians, accustomed to precise definitions, call this virus figuratively - the younger brother of hepatitis C, since it has the same routes of entry into the body and similar symptoms, but it is not characterized by complications in the form of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

In Russia, the hepatitis G virus is widespread everywhere, the frequency of its detection ranges from 2% in Moscow and the region to 8% in Yakutia.

The risk group includes, first of all, drug addicts, as well as those in need of blood transfusion or surgery.

Infection routes:

• poorly tested donor blood;
• sexual contact with a carrier of the virus;
• non-sterile medical instruments.

Symptoms:

• increased body temperature;
• general malaise;
• headache and body aches;
• decreased or complete lack of appetite;
• nausea and vomiting;
• pain under the right rib;
• darkening of urine and discoloration of feces.

The main danger lies in the inconsistency of symptoms: they are present, then they disappear, and therefore in the first days you can not attach importance to them and confuse a dangerous disease with ordinary fatigue or manifestations of depression.

When proceeding as an independent disease, hepatitis G does not manifest itself in icteric form.

Preventive measures:

• a responsible approach to the process of preparing reusable medical instruments and donated blood (for medical staff);
• performing simple medical procedures with disposable instruments;
• the use of precautions during sexual intercourse;
• vaccination.

Read more: Hepatitis G - symptoms, causes, treatment

Author of the article: Kletkin Maxim Evgenievich | Hepatologist

Education: Diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received at the Military Medical Academy. S. M. Kirov (2007). At the Voronezh Medical Academy. NN Burdenko graduated from residency in the specialty "Hepatologist" (2012).