Steem4Nigeria Accelerator- iTeach// Hepatitis Infection (Overview)

Greetings to everyone, hope you all are doing well. Its a pleasure to welcome you all to another episode of health series. My apologies for failing to bring last week's episode, my mum has been in the hospital for some weeks now, so have been very busy shuttling between home and hospital.

Today, I'll be writing about a well known condition that affects a very important organ in the body, this disease is called hepatitis.

What is hepatitis

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Hepatitis is simply the inflammation of the liver. The liver is basically an organ of the body that is charged with the responsibility of regulating chemical substances, deamination, metabolism, detoxification, etc. When the liver becomes inflamed, most of its duties are are not performed optimally, this can lead to a wide range of complications including encephalopathy.

According to the world health organisation (WHO), at least twelve million people are living with one type of hepatitis or the other, making it one of the leading infections in the world.

There are 5 different types of of hepatitis, they include;

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Hepatitis D
• Hepatitis E

Each of them have their own unique characteristics, the symptoms and mode of transmission can however be similar in some.

For today, this article will be limited to only the hepatitis A virus, other types will be discussed tentatively in subsequent episodes.

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver infection caused by the HA virus. It usually lasts for few weeks in some people, others may take up to a month or year, depending on the person's immune system.

According to CDC, there are about 25,000 new cases of hepatitis every year in the united states, this statistics have declined somewhat over the couple of years due to active immunization.

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Mode of transmission

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People usually contract hepatitis A virus through the consumption of food or water contaminated with the faecal matter of an infected person.

This infection is common in underdevelop countries with poor state of hygiene and ineffective sanitation system.

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Symptoms

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The symptoms of hepatitis A varies based on the individual involved. Typical symptoms usually lasts for 14 - 28 days.

They include;

• Fever
• Malaise
• Abdominal pain
• Low appetite
• Jaundice
• Diarrhea
• Dark coloured urine
• Nausea
• Joint pain
• Fatigue
• Vomiting
• Itching.

Its also worth mentioning that some people do not show any of this symptoms and are regarded as asymptomatic.

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Diagnosis and Treatment

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Diagnosing hepatitis A is done through a simple blood test to ascertain the presence of immunoglobulin M (Igm) or immunoglobulin G antibodies in the person's plasma. This sets of antibodies are only produced when the body has been exposed to the HA virus.

There is no known cure for HAV, treatment are administered to provide symptomatic relieve, they include medications that can help boost the patient's immune system to fight the virus.

HAV usually goes away after few weeks, others may lasts for months. However, in very rare cases, acute liver failure may ensue.

Conclusion

Hepatitis is a very serious infection that shouldn't be joked with, it can disrupt important internal processes in the body as it has to do with the liver.

Always drink purified water and maintain a good personal hygiene. HAV, just like any other viral infection, can be effectively managed if diagnosed early.