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NEW YORK, July 3, 2004
(CBS) It’s estimated that up to a third of all Americans will be infected with a form of hepatitis in their lifetimes. Despite its prevalence, little is known about the disease.
So Saturday Early Show medical contributor Dr. Mallika Marshall offers advice on how to avoid it.
Hepatitis is basically inflammation of the liver, which over time can lead to scar tissue or something called cirrhosis, liver failure and even liver cancer.
There are several types of hepatitis including A, B and C. These are all types of viral illnesses, Dr. Marshall says, though other things, such as alcohol poisoning, can cause hepatitis.
With regards to viral hepatitis, Hepatitis A is the least serious and is quite common, affecting 180,000 Americans each year. It is generally passed on by eating food or drinking water that’s been contaminated with human waste.
Hepatitis B and C are more serious, and are generally spread through bodily fluids such as with unprotected sex, sharing needles or through contaminated blood products.
The following are the common symptoms for hepatitis:
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Abdominal Pain
• Poor Appetite
• Jaundice – Yellowing of the eyes and skin
Many people infected with hepatitis don’t feel any symptoms at all, and if they do, the symptoms may be mistaken for something else.
Here is what you can do to avoid the disease:
Avoid Raw Shellfish
Mollusks, such as clams, mussels and oysters, are particularly common sources of hepatitis A in this country.
Wash Raw Produce
Fruits and vegetables can easily get contaminated during harvesting and packaging. So always rinse your produce off with water before eating it. Another thing you should do is remove and discard the first few layers of lettuce or an onion before serving them.
Wash Hands Frequently
A lot of people forget to wash their hands before preparing food, and this is a bigway that food borne–illnesses are passed on.
Ask Questions At Salon
Instruments that are used at nail salon, such as nail clippers and cuticle shavers can be breeding grounds for hepatitis viruses. So make sure before the manicurist uses them on your skin that they’ve been properly disinfected.
Get Tested
If you have any of the symptoms we mentioned, you should get tested for hepatitis. It involves a simple blood test. And you definitely want to get tested early so you can get treated early.
People with acute hepatitis are treated with bed rest and supportive care. There are no medications to treat acute disease. People with chronic hepatitis B and C are often treated with antiviral medications.
There are vaccines available against hepatitis A and B, but there is no vaccine against hepatitis C. It’s generally recommended that all early adolescents, as well as other high-risk individuals such as heathcare workers, be vaccinated against hepatitis B.
Hepatitis C Frequently Asked Questions
Almost 4 million Americans have been infected with Hepatitis C Virus. This information will help you to understand what hepatitis C is and how to prevent getting it.
What is hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is found in the blood of persons who have this disease. The infection is spread by contact with the blood of an infected person.
How serious is hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is serious for some persons, but not for others. Most persons who get hepatitis C carry the virus for the rest of their lives. Most of these persons have some liver damage but many do not feel sick from the disease. Some persons with liver damage due to hepatitis C may develop cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver and liver failure which may take many years to develop. Others have no long term effects.
What can I do now that my hepatitis C test is positive?
Contact your doctor. Additional tests may be needed to check your diagnosis and to see if you have liver damage.
What if I don’t feel sick?
Many persons with long-term hepatitis C have no symptoms and feel well, but should still see their doctor. For some persons, the most common symptom is extreme tiredness.
How can I take care of my liver?
• See your doctor regularly.
• Do not drink alcohol.
• Tell your doctor about all medicines that you are taking, even herbal medicines.
• If you have liver damage from hepatitis C, you should get vaccinated against hepatitis A.
Is there a treatment for hepatitis C?
Drugs are licensed for the treatment of persons with long-term hepatitis C. About 4-5 out of every 10 patients who are treated get rid of the virus. You should check with your doctor to see if treatment may help you.
How could I have gotten hepatitis C?
HCV is spread primarily by exposure to human blood. You may have gotten hepatitis C if:
• you ever injected street drugs, even if you experimented a few times many years ago.
• you were treated for clotting problems with a blood product made before 1987.
• you received a blood transfusion or solid organ transplant (e.g., kidney, liver, heart) from an infected donor.
• you were ever on long-term kidney dialysis.
• you were ever a health care worker and had frequent contact with blood in the work place, especially accidental needlesticks.
• your mother had hepatitis C at the time she gave birth to you.
• you ever had sex with a person infected with HCV.
• you lived with someone who was infected with HCV and shared items such as razors or toothbrushes that might have had blood on them.
How can I prevent spreading HCV to others?
• Do not donate your blood, body organs, other tissue, or sperm.
• Do not share toothbrushes, razors, or other personal care articles that might have your blood on them.
• Cover your cuts and open sores.
• If you have one long-term, steady sex partner, there is a very low chance of giving HCV to that partner and you do not need to change your sexual practices. If you want to lower the small chance of spreading HCV to your sex partner, you may decide to use latex condoms. (The efficacy of latex condoms in preventing infection with HCV is unknown, but their proper use may reduce transmission.) Ask your doctor about having your sex partner tested.
What if I am pregnant?
Five out of every 100 infants born to HCV infected women become infected. This occurs at the time of birth, and there is no treatment that can prevent this from happening. However, infants infected with HCV at the time of birth seem to do very well in the first few years of life. More studies are needed to find out if these infants will have problems from the infection as they grow older.
Hepatitis C is NOT spread by:
• breast feeding
• sneezing
• hugging
• coughing
• sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses
• food or water
• casual contact
If you use or inject street drugs:
• Stop and get into a drug treatment program.
• If you cannot stop, do not reuse or share syringes, water, or drug works.
• Get vaccinated against hepatitis B and hepatitis A.
If you are having sex, but not with one steady partner:
• You and your partners can get diseases spread by having sex (e.g., AIDS, hepatitis B, gonorrhea or chlamydia). Use latex condoms correctly and every time. (The efficacy of latex condoms in preventing infection with HCV is unknown, but their proper use may reduce transmission.) The surest way to prevent the spread of any disease by sex is not to have sex at all.
• Get vaccinated against hepatitis B.
The liver is the largest organ in the body. It is located on the right side of the abdomen (to the right of the stomach) behind the lower ribs and below the lungs. The liver performs more than 400 functions each day to keep the body healthy.
Some of its major jobs include:
• converting food into nutrients the body can use (for example, the liver produces bile to help break down fats)
• storing fats, sugars, iron, and vitamins for later use by the body
• making the proteins needed for normal blood clotting
• removing or chemically changing drugs, alcohol, and other substances that may be harmful or toxic to the body
Source: USC Liver Transplant Program and Center for Liver Disease
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/02/earlyshow/saturday