Can hepatitis C be completely cured?
Currently, the public perceives hepatitis C as a disease that progresses among people who use drugs intravenously. At the same time, there is a group of people who are panicky afraid of becoming infected with this form of hepatitis at the reception in a cosmetic or nail salon, so they take all sorts of safety measures.
Content:
- Is hepatitis a problem for people at risk?
- How can you get hepatitis C?
- Features of the hepatitis C virus
- How can you protect yourself from getting hepatitis?
- How should you behave when visiting a dental office or beauty salon?
- How long can the hepatitis virus remain in a patient's body without symptoms?
- How do the forms of hepatitis differ from each other?
- Who can carry the virus?
- Should hepatitis C be treated?
- Can hepatitis C go away on its own?
- Does the hepatitis B vaccine protect against infection with the hepatitis B virus?
- At what age should you get vaccinated against hepatitis B?
- Can you get hepatitis B through unprotected sex?
- Will there be a vaccine against hepatitis C?
- What should a patient do if he suspects hepatitis B virus?
- Who chooses the patient's treatment method?
- What should patients do?
Is hepatitis a problem for people at risk?
At the moment when a person becomes ill with hepatitis, other pressing problems for him fade into the background. The main task of the patient is a speedy recovery and return to the usual way of life. Human infection with the hepatitis B virus can occur not only through contact with the patient's biological material.
There are a large number of cases when this viral infection entered the human body during a visit to a dental office, tattoo parlor, manicure room, medical institution, etc. Naturally, the risk group is headed by drug addicts who daily make intravenous injections to themselves, and often one syringe is used by the entire company.
How can you get hepatitis C?
Group C hepatitis is transmitted exclusively by the parenteral route. During infection, a viral infection penetrates into the human wound, which is contained in the biological material of a patient with hepatitis.
Unlike group B hepatitis, this form of the disease is rarely transmitted during unprotected sex. According to available statistics, the chance of contracting hepatitis C among sex partners who do not use condoms is approximately 5% in 10 years of the total number of patients.
Features of the hepatitis C virus
The hepatitis C virus cannot maintain its viability in the external environment for a long time. After the blood dries, the virus dies, so that if particles of dry biological material get into an open wound of a person, infection with this disease will not occur.
Unlike hepatitis C, the B viral infection is surprisingly viable. It can maintain its activity for decades under any external influence.
The only way to clear any object from the presence of contaminated biological material is to carry out a two-hour sanitization at a high temperature. The hepatitis B virus can be killed at 300 ° C.
How can you protect yourself from getting hepatitis?
Experts suggest that people regularly take preventive measures that will help protect against hepatitis C infection.
Modern medicine strongly recommends observing precautionary measures for both people and employees of a medical institution and service sector:
- use disposable instruments when performing medical procedures;
- regularly sanitize the tools used by masters of manicure, tattooing and beauty parlors;
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when taking blood, it is necessary to carry out a thorough check of the biological material, which must be kept in quarantine for a certain amount of time;
- if there is any suspicion of the presence of a virus in the blood, a second, more detailed analysis must be done, etc.
How should you behave when visiting a dental office or beauty salon?
For medical institutions and institutions in which cosmetic services are provided, sanitary standards have been developed that relate to both the cleaning of premises and the processing of instruments. Currently, these requirements are respected without question, since each institution is responsible for the life and health of its clients and does not want to independently provoke the emergence of problem situations.
In tattoo parlors, the situation is much more complicated, since many offices work unofficially and save on expensive disinfectants.
How long can the hepatitis virus remain in a patient's body without symptoms?
After the penetration of a viral infection into the human body, a little time must pass before it begins to multiply. At this time, the patient will not experience any discomfort or other symptoms inherent in hepatitis C. Even a laboratory blood test will not be able to detect the presence of the virus.
Most patients learn that they are carriers of the hepatitis virus during a comprehensive examination carried out before elective surgery.
How do the forms of hepatitis differ from each other?
Modern medicine classifies hepatitis as follows:
- hepatitis A form - amenable to treatment and does not become chronic (an effective vaccine has been developed against it);
- hepatitis D form - is a rare virus that develops in patients infected with hepatitis B;
- hepatitis forms F and E - do not progress in the territory of the Russian Federation;
- hepatitis B and C are the most common forms of this disease, against the background of which cirrhosis or liver cancer often develops (these forms of hepatitis are by far the highest mortality rate).
Who can carry the virus?
When the hepatitis C virus enters the human body, the following occurs:
- a person becomes a carrier of the virus;
- the patient is infected;
- the person is sick and needs emergency treatment.
Hepatitis C can be in a dormant state throughout life and not cause anxiety in a person. In this case, cirrhosis of the liver may develop in some patients after 20 years from the moment of infection, while in other patients it will not develop even after 60 years.
Should hepatitis C be treated?
With timely diagnostics and prescribed complex treatment, there is a very positive prognosis for patients. Modern methods of treating hepatitis C allow the patient to be completely cured and, several years after the end of therapy, rid his blood of the presence of antibodies of this virus.
According to existing forecasts, in the near future, new drugs will be presented that can help more than 90% of patients with hepatitis. Some drugs will be submitted for state registration this year. With their help, it will be possible to significantly increase the effect of drug therapy.
Can hepatitis C go away on its own?
There is a category of patients in which, during laboratory blood tests, hepatitis C antibodies are detected, but the RNA virus itself is not detected.
These results suggest that the patient had recently suffered from hepatitis, but recovered at the time of the examination. In 70% of cases, hepatitis simply becomes chronic, and the cured 30% of patients can re-transmit this disease.
Does the hepatitis B vaccine protect against infection with the hepatitis B virus?
With the progression of group B hepatitis, patients are prescribed special drugs that can suppress the virus and prevent its multiplication. Patients should take such drugs regularly, until the liver functions are restored.
Vaccination against hepatitis B will protect the patient's body for 5 years, after which it will have to be re-vaccinated. If a pregnant woman is a carrier of this form of the virus, she can infect her baby during labor. That is why such newborns are immediately vaccinated against hepatitis, thereby preventing further development of the infection.
At what age should you get vaccinated against hepatitis B?
Participation in vaccination is an individual matter for each person. Before visiting a medical institution, a patient should consider for himself all the possible risks of hepatitis B infection at a young age, when people lead a wild lifestyle, it is necessary to be vaccinated against this disease.
In old age, for a person the likelihood of direct contact with the biological material of a sick person does not decrease, therefore it is best to provide additional protection to your body. Every person should remember that revaccination is necessary 5 years after vaccination.
Can you get hepatitis B through unprotected sex?
Due to the fact that the hepatitis B virus is contained not only in the patient's blood, but also in all mucosal secretions, when engaging in unprotected sex, the likelihood of contracting this disease increases several times. When kissing, the virus can be transmitted only if a healthy person has fresh lesions on the tongue or oral mucosa.
Will there be a vaccine against hepatitis C?
When a person is infected with the hepatitis C virus, the immune system immediately enters the battle, which negatively affects the liver cells. The patient's immunity alone will not be able to cope with this disease. For these purposes, a drug has been developed that is able to cope with this form of the virus. Despite all the clinical trials, which were very successful, this drug was never presented on the domestic market. In the event that the annual vaccination is carried out, the patient's body will no longer recognize this viral infection.
What should a patient do if he suspects hepatitis B virus?
In the event that a person suspects hepatitis, he needs to contact a medical institution, to an infectious disease specialist. A narrow-profile specialist will conduct a comprehensive examination and, after confirming the diagnosis, prescribe constructive treatment.
Currently, there are special hepatological centers, which employ highly qualified specialists who can treat any form of hepatitis. Many patients are treated in these health facilities under regional programs or special quotas, which significantly reduces overall costs for them.
Who chooses the patient's treatment method?
To determine which therapy is suitable for a particular patient, a specialist must conduct a comprehensive examination of him. Based on the collected history of the disease, the results of a laboratory blood test and a liver biopsy, the doctor will determine how likely it is to develop cirrhosis.
In the event that a patient comes to the appointment who has been suffering from hepatitis for 15 years and there is a high probability for him, after 10 years, to develop liver cirrhosis, the doctor prescribes constructive therapy.
If a young man comes to the doctor with symptoms of hepatitis, who has been a carrier of this virus for no more than a year, the specialist will recommend that he wait several years with therapy, subject to all instructions and recommendations. After 5-6 years, such a patient will undergo a course of treatment that will rid him of the hepatitis virus in just a few months.
What should patients do?
In developed foreign countries, patients who have been diagnosed with hepatitis C undergo comprehensive treatment at the expense of the state. For example, in Hungary 3500 patients were diagnosed with hepatitis B. The state pays for their treatment in full and makes sure that they cannot infect other citizens. For patients with hepatitis C, 14 centers have been created, where they undergo not only hepatological examination, but also receive free treatment.
In Russia today there is no legal basis for the state to take responsibility for the life and health of such a category of patients. Today, only HIV-infected patients receive free medicines and medical care in specialized institutions. In the event that patients with hepatitis will more actively show their position, then in the near future the state will treat them free of charge.
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).
