Colleen Cronin

Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. It is one of five human hepatitis viruses that primarily infect the human liver and cause human illness. The other known human hepatitis viruses are hepatitis B, C, D, and E.
Hepatitis A is also called Viral Hepatitis. The hepatitis A virus is heat stable and will survive for up to a month at ambient temperatures in the environment
Symptoms
There are many symptoms the most common symptoms are:
Jaundice
Fatigue
Abdominal pain
Loss of appetite
Nausea
Diarrhoea
Fever
Transmission
The virus that causes hepatitis A is found in the stool of persons with hepatitis A. The hepatitis A virus is usually spread from person to person by putting something in the mouth that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with hepatitis A. The object that is placed in the mouth may look clean but still be infected with the hepatitis A virus.
Risk of Infection
Anyone can contract Hepatitis A. However, there are certain people who have a higher risk of developing Hepatitis a. Those people are listed below.
Household contacts of infected persons
Sex contacts of infected persons
Persons traveling to countries where hepatitis A is common
Men who have sex with men
Injecting and non-injecting drug users
Treatment
If you believe you have Hepatitis A, you should seek medical help. Hepatitis A usually goes away on its own after several weeks.
Prevention
Yes. The Hepatitis A vaccine is the best way to prevent from catching the virus. Another common way to protect yourself from catching the virus is to maintain good personal hygiene and proper sanitation. Also, always wash your hands with soap and water after using the bathroom, changing a diaper, and before preparing and eating food.

Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a liver disease caused by infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is one of the most easily spread (contagious) forms of viral hepatitis, which includes hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. However, hepatitis has many other causes, including some medications, long-term alcohol use, fatty deposits in the liver, and exposure to certain industrial chemicals.
All types of hepatitis damage liver cells and can cause the liver to become swollen and tender (liver inflammation). Some types can cause permanent liver damage. Hepatitis B can be a short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic)
infection.
An acute infection usually goes away on its own without treatment. Some people have no symptoms. Most people who develop symptoms feel better in 2 to 3 weeks and recover completely after 4 to 8 weeks. Other people may take longer to recover. Once an acute infection is over, you are no longer contagious. You also develop antibodies against HBV that provide lifelong protection against future infection.
Most people who have hepatitis B have acute hepatitis B and do not develop chronic hepatitis B.
Chronic infection occurs when the hepatitis B virus continues to be present in your liver and blood for 6 months or more. Chronic hepatitis B puts you at increased risk for developing serious liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer
(hepatocellular carcinoma). When you have chronic HBV, you can easily spread the disease. An estimated 1.25 million Americans have chronic hepatitis B.
Symptoms
Less than half of those with acute HBV infections have symptoms. Symptoms include:
Jaundice (the skin and whites of the eyes appear yellow). Although jaundice is the defining sign of hepatitis B, it does not occur in most cases. Jaundice usually appears after other symptoms have started to go away.
Extreme tiredness (fatigue).
Mild fever.
Headache.
Loss of appetite.
Nausea and vomiting.
Constant discomfort on the right side of the abdomen under the rib cage, where the liver is located. In most people, the discomfort is made worse if their bodies are jarred or if they overwork themselves.
Diarrhea or constipation.
Muscle aches and joint pain.
Skin rash.
Most people with chronic HBV have no symptoms.
Spread
The hepatitis B virus is spread from one person to another through body fluids, including blood, semen, and vaginal fluids (including menstrual blood). Contact with a body fluid can occur from sexual contact, sharing needles or other equipment (such as cotton, spoons, and water) to inject illegal drugs, handling blood or instruments used to draw blood, sharing razors or toothbrushes, and getting tattoos or body piercings with needles that were not properly cleaned. The virus also can be passed from a mother to her newborn baby during delivery (perinatal transmission).
Vaccination to prevent the spread of HBV infection is up to 95% effective. Three injections provide long-lasting immunity. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all healthy babies who weigh at least 2000 g (4.4 lb) get the first dose of the vaccine at birth, before leaving the hospital.
Although the vaccine is not widely used among adults, those at risk for infection (such as medical personnel who work with body fluids or people who have multiple sex partners) should be vaccinated.
Diagnosis
If your health professional suspects you are infected with hepatitis B after a physical examination and medical history, blood tests will be used to confirm the diagnosis and determine whether you actually have been exposed to the virus, whether the virus is multiplying (active) or not multiplying (inactive), whether your liver is damaged, and whether you have a chronic infection.
You may be infected with HBV but have no symptoms. In this case, you may not find out that you once had hepatitis B, or that you currently have chronic HBV infection, until you have a routine blood test or donate blood or until a family member or someone you live with is found to be infected. Some people never know they have hepatitis B until a health professional finds that they have serious liver disease such as cirrhosis or liver cancer. However, this is uncommon.
Treatment
In most cases, acute hepatitis B goes away on its own. You can relieve your symptoms at home by reducing your activity level, eating healthy foods, avoiding dehydration, and avoiding alcohol and drugs.
Treatment for chronic hepatitis B depends on whether the virus is multiplying and whether liver damage exists or may develop. Your health professional may monitor the disease during frequent checkups and look for liver damage, or you may have to use antiviral medication to stop the virus from replicating and prevent liver damage. If your liver is severely damaged, a liver transplant may be considered.

Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is spread by contact with the blood of an infected person.
The progression of hepatitis C is typically silent until it is late in the course of disease. When symptoms are present, often liver cirrhosis (scarring) has been occured. The progression to liver cirrhosis only occurs in 20 percent of those with hepatitis C and liver failure develops in about 5 percent.
From the time of acquisition of the virus it can take up to 50 years to develop cirrhosis. Most people with hepatitis C are unaware that they have it.
Symptoms
There are many signs and symptoms of Hepatitis C. However, 80% of persons with hepatitis C have no signs or symptoms. Some of the symptoms of hepatitis C are: jaundice, fatigue, dark urine, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and nausea.
Causes
Hepatitis C is caused by the HCV virus.
Transmission
Transmission of hepatitis C occurs when blood or body fluids from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not infected. Some of the most common ways hepatitis C is transmitted are: sharing needles when taking drugs, through needlesticks or sharps exposures on the job, or from an infected mother to her baby during birth.
Prevention
Unfortunately, there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C. You can prevent yourself from contracting it by: not doing drugs that involve sharing of needles, syringes, or water; do not come into contact with bodily fluids from people who have Hepatitis C; do not share personal care items such as razors, toothbrushes, that might have blood on them.
Risks of Developing Hepatits C
Some of the risk factors for developing Hepatitis C are: a blood transfusion before 1992, intravenous drug use at any time, having a
tattoo, sexual exposure to someone with hepatitis C, or cocaine
snorting.
Long Term Effects of Hepatitis C
One of the main long term effects of hepatitis C is chronic liver
disease.
What can persons with Hepatitis C infection do to protect their liver?
Some of the things a person who has hepatitis C to protect their liver is:
Stop using alcohol
See your doctor regularly
Don't start any new medicines or use over-the-counter, herbal, and other medicines without a physician's knowledge
Nearly 4 million Americans have been exposed to hepatitis C by blood-to-blood contact and over 2.7 million have an ongoing chronic infection.