Live Life Team
A virus which spreads through bodily fluids and blood of infected person is hepatitis B. More than HIV, hepatitis B virus are more infectious at least by 100 times. As the symptoms do not develop instantly, many of them shall not realize when they get infected with this virus.
Six to one months is the incubation period. The virus is detected by blood test. Body fluids like vaginal fluids, semen, saliva and blood carry this virus. It can be transmitted by sexual intercourse or an infected mother transmitting the virus to the child during delivery or needle sharing for drug injection. The virus of Hepatitis B can cause chronic illness followed by acute infection. You can stay well if you have chronic hepatitis B but then you become a virus carrier and the symptoms also might go and come or also develop severe liver damage. Hepatitis B is common in Pacific islands like Fiji , Solomon and Hawaiian islands, South east Asia and sub Saharan Africa. It is very uncommon in North America, western and Northern Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Approximately 350 millions virus carriers are there across the world.
Symptoms
If virus of hepatitis B is contracted, symptoms do not occur in most of them even though they can be a carrier to this virus. Few others might experience symptoms similar to hepatitis A. which include symptoms, of flu like tiredness, general pains and aches, fever and headache, diarrhoea, vomiting or nausea and low appetite, abdominal pains and Jaundice occurs because of inflammation of liver.
Very occasionally, fulminant hepatitis B which is a severe form of acute hepatitis occurs. Abdomen swelling, yellowing of eyes and skin and collapsing are few symptoms. If no treatment is given on time it can get fatal. Adults with hepatitis B shall clear this infection and also become immune to it. If the infection stays over six months, it can become chronic. Symptoms in children and babies go and come. It is quite similar to acute stage symptoms like jaundice, weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea and fatigue. They also develop scarring of liver known as cirrhosis and shall eventually develop into liver cancer.
Causes
Hepatitis B virus can spread when body or blood fluids from an infected person pass on to an uninfected person. You cannot realize when you get infected with the virus.
The virus is spread in many ways, like
Unprotected sexual intercourse with multiple partners.
Come in contact with blood of an infected person, if you have a scratch or cut or any other open wound.
Sharing of needles, filters or spoons to take drugs
In case you are a health care professional who has close contact with body fluids and blood, accidentally puncturing skin by a needle which is used
If you have the hepatitis B virus and are pregnant it can pass to the child during pregnancy or child birth and while breastfeeding.
By sharing towels, razors and toothbrush also carries small risks to develop hepatitis B. Body piercing and unsafe tattooing also carry high risk for spreading this virus.
Countries wherein the dental and medical equipments are not sterilized can cause the infection to spread. Also where blood test is not carried out to check hepatitis B and transfusion of blood takes place resulting with the infection. In UK, blood donations are checked for hepatitis B virus. Vaccination is also advised to travellers before travelling. Chronic hepatitis can also occur if the body accidentally attacking its organs thinking it to be a foreign infection or bacteria. This is called as autoimmune hepatitis and it rarely causes chronic hepatitis. Hepatitis B is not spread by hugging, coughing and sneezing of an infected person.
