what-is-hepatitis-b : Symptoms, Causes, Treatment & Prevention

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver . Most adults who get it have it for a short time and then get better. This is called acute hepatitis B.

What causes hepatitis B?

Its caused by the hepatitis B virus. It is spread through contact with the blood and body fluids of an infected person.

You may get hepatitis B if you:

• Have sex with an infected person without using a condom.
• Share needles (used for injecting drugs) with an infected person.
• Get a tattoo or piercing with tools that werent sterilized.
• Share personal items like razors or toothbrushes with an infected person.

What are the symptoms of hepatitis B?

Many people with hepatitis B donot know they have it, because they donot have symptoms. If you do have symptoms, you may just feel like you have the flu. Symptoms include:

• Feeling very tired.
• Mild fever.
• Headache.
• Not wanting to eat.
• Feeling sick to your stomach or vomiting.
• Belly pain.
• Tan-colored bowel movements (stools).
• Dark urine.
• Yellowish eyes and skin (jaundice). Jaundice usually appears only after other symptoms have started to go away.

How is hepatitis B diagnosed?

A simple blood test can tell your doctor if you have the hepatitis B virus now or if you had it in the past. Your doctor also may be able to tell if you have had the vaccine to prevent the virus.

If your doctor thinks you may have liver damage from hepatitis B, he or she may use a needle to take a tiny sample of your liver for testing. This is called a liver biopsy.

How hepatitis B treated?

It is not possible, on clinical grounds, to differentiate hepatitis B from hepatitis caused by other viral agents and, hence, laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis is essential. A number of blood tests are available to diagnose and monitor people with hepatitis B. They can be used to distinguish acute and chronic infections.

Laboratory diagnosis of hepatitis B infection focuses on the detection of the hepatitis B surface antigen HBsAg. WHO recommends that all blood donations be tested for hepatitis B to ensure blood safety and avoid accidental transmission to people who receive blood product.

• Acute HBV infection is characterized by the presence of HBsAg and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody to the core antigen, HBcAg. During the initial phase of infection, patients are also seropositive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). HBeAg is usually a marker of high levels of replication of the virus. The presence of HBeAg indicates that the blood and body fluids of the infected individual are highly infectious.
• Chronic infection is characterized by the persistence of HBsAg for at least 6 months (with or without concurrent HBeAg). Persistence of HBsAg is the principal marker of risk for developing chronic liver disease and liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) later in life.