Hepatitis disease is a condition that inflames the liver, a vital organ responsible for many essential functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and the production of biochemicals necessary for digestion.
Various factors can cause this condition, including viral infections, alcohol use, toxins, certain medications, and autoimmune diseases. Among these, viral hepatitis is the most common and significant due to its potential for widespread transmission and chronic liver disease.
This article will provide an in-depth look at the different types of viral hepatitis, their symptoms, and distinguishing characteristics.
There are five primary types of viral hepatitis: Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Each type arises from a different virus and has distinct modes of transmission, symptoms, and long-term effects.
Hepatitis A:
This is a form of hepatitis, mainly spread by consuming food or water that has been contaminated with feces from an infected individual. It is often associated with poor sanitation and hygiene practices.
Symptoms of Hepatitis A:
Some Hepatitis A symptoms may include, but not limited to:
- Fatigue
- Sudden nausea and vomiting and diarrhea
- Pain or discomfort in the belly, particularly on the upper right side under the lower ribs, above the liver.
- Clay- or gray-colored stool
- Loss of appetite
- Mild fever
- Dark urine
- Joint pain
- Yellow eyes
- Intense itching often occurs on the skin, particularly the arms, legs, and back.
Distinguishing Factor
Hepatitis A is a severe infection that clears up on its own and does not lead to chronic disease and most people recover fully within a few weeks to months.
Risk Factors:
Outlined below are risk factors that increases the likelihood of developing the disease;
- Poor sanitation
- Insufficient access to safe drinking water
- Living in a household with an infected person
- Being a sexual partner of someone with acute hepatitis A infection
- Having sexual partners of the same gender as oneself.
- Are HIV positive
- Traveling to high-endemicity areas without immunization.
Hepatitis B:
Exposure to infectious blood or body fluids, such as semen, saliva, and vaginal fluids, transmits this condition. The infection can be short and severe. Common modes of spread include sexual contact and sharing needles.
Symptoms:
- Acute Hepatitis B: Symptoms can include fever, tiredness, no appetite, feeling sick, throwing up, belly pain, dark urine, joint pain, and yellow skin and eyes (jaundice).
- Chronic Hepatitis B: Long-term infection can cause serious liver problems like cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) and liver cancer. Chronic infection often remains asymptomatic until significant liver damage occurs..
Distinguishing Factors:
- Hepatitis B can be either acute or chronic. Chronic Hepatitis B can lead to serious conditions like cirrhosis and liver cancer.
- There is vaccine for Hepatitis B.
Risk factors
From an infected mother to a child during childbirth.
- Having unprotected sex with an infected person.
- Having a weakened immune system
- Having multiple sexual partners
- Living with someone who has chronic Hepatitis B.
- Working in healthcare and being exposed to blood or bodily fluids.
Hepatitis C
Direct blood-to-blood contact mainly transmits this. It can occur through sharing of infected needles, blood transfusions with infected blood but it is less common, through sexual contact and from mother to baby during childbirth.
It has similar symptoms to Hepatitis A.
Distinguishing Factors
- Many people with Hepatitis C do not show symptoms for years, and doctors often discover the disease incidentally.
- Chronic Hepatitis C can lead to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
- There is no vaccine for Hepatitis C.
Hepatitis D (HDV)
It is also known as Delta Hepatitis, and occurs only in those infected with Hepatitis B. It is transmitted through contact with infectious blood.
Symptoms:
Symptoms are like those of Hepatitis B, but co-infection or superinfection with HDV can cause more severe disease.
Distinguishing Factors:
- HDV requires the presence of Hepatitis B to replicate, making it a co-infection.
- It significantly increases the severity of Hepatitis B infections.
- There is no specific vaccine for Hepatitis D, but the Hepatitis B vaccine provides protection.
Hepatitis E
This is mainly transmitted through contaminated water. It is like Hepatitis A in its mode of transmission and symptoms.
