Conditions
Hepatitis
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver, of which there are three main types: A, B and C. But if you feel like you’re about to embark on a Sesame Street-style alphabetical journey into the world of hepatitis, think again. Because Hepatitis B, which can be spread through the exchange of blood and body fluids during unprotected sex, or through dirty needles and contaminated blood products, is 100 times more infectious than HIV! However, many people may not even realise they have been infected with the virus, as symptoms may not develop immediately, or at all. Hepatitis C is also spread through the exchange of blood or blood products, or through sharing needles and needlestick accidents. And Hepatitis A can be caught through the faecal contamination of food and water or through poor personal hygiene or sanitation. There is often no specific treatment for acute hepatitis B. However, with pain relief for symptoms, rest, a healthy diet, and abstention from alcohol, most people tend to be symptom free, or recover completely within a couple of months. Chronic hepatitis (caused only by B and C) may be treated with intravenous antiviral medication.
Comments and Questions
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Thank you to whoever replied to my question it has really put my mind at rest although I have still decided to double check and get tested again, better to be safe than sorry. This has been a massive lesson to me that you should always use protection it would have saved all the worrying for the last year!
I was told by someone that someone I had slept with had Hep B, I went for testing 2/3 weeks later and tested negative. Would it have shown this early on? I have been suffering with pains in my muscles at the tops of my legs and read that this can be a symptom, do you think I am infected?
No. Blood tests show the amount of virus in blood. If virus is not there it will not appear. More than likely, person you have had sex with did have Hep B but very low virus count making this person not very infectious. I was infected at birth, have a low virus count and lived a normal life (including sexual relationships) without infecting a single person. Word of advice: always offer your new partner STD test (for both of you). It will spare you nasty surprises.
okay so i was on a health course in college and had to get the hep B vaccination and so did all of my class, so we had the normal 3 injections and then had a blood test to see if we were immune, then after the results came back i was told i had to go back for a booster (i was the only one in my class) and when i asked them why all they said was the levels of it were a bit low (or something like that)but not long after being told to go back for a booster i left the course, so i didnt actually go for it so i was just wandering if im immune or not or if its important for me to get that booster?
Having low immunity through vaccination might not protect you from getting infected. I'd get that booster anyway ;)
I've had small spots on penis 4 quite a while and hair has begun 2 grow from them.Its becoming worrying as its the spots are growing on the whole length of my penis.Im convinced it can't be an S.T.I as I have'nt had any sexual encounters.Can you help me
My partner has hepatitis C. He got the treatment for it , interferon and ribivarin, Its 2 tablets at night and 2 in the morning, he has take and injection once a week. In the first 4 weeks, my partner got rid of which was great, the only problem was he couldn't come off the medication he had to keep taking the medication, just incase it were to come back. The side effects of the treatment are: At bedtime his sleeping is very distorted. Consent headaches, which he is now kind of used too. Muscles aches and pains. Not as fit as he was, (as his immune system is very low). He gets frustrated more often, when he never used to be like that at all. Im glad he's on the treatment for him getting rid of the hep OBVIOUSLY!! It's just a pity he has to carry on taking the medication. It's going to weird when he comes off the it. ANYONE THAT KNOW. OR MAY THINK THEY HAVE HEP. PLEASE GET CHECKED OUT.
Besides Hep A, B, and C, there are other hepatitis's. One - which clearly wasn't mentioned, is called Autoimmune Hepatitis. It IS NOT contracted, rather it is an autoimmune disease that has no cause or cure. It is genetic and occurs in mostly woman. I really wish when people talk about Hepatitis, they include autoimmune hep. Even though it's picked up/contracted etc, it is lumped in both 'hepatitis' and 'autoimmune'.
I myself have just finished 48 weeks of combi-therapy for hepatitis c type 1. It was the most gruelling year of my life but I cleared the virus and it was worth it, that 1 year may have put another 15-20 years on. Go get tested!!
j had hep a 10 years a go when i was in mexico the thing iwas not that sick they say hep a is mild and not long term my liver functon went back to normal my gp says i know amunirty to hep a ? i can never catch it again?? he felt my liver and said u are healthy and 1000,s of people have had hep a and never know they have had it as it can very mild infection
I am worried i may have Hepatitis as my AlT was 68 when i got a test done... I have had another test to see whats wrong but what can i look out for just now to check i do not have it??
my mother has hepetitis A and C before i was born, i was tested when i was 11 years old and i came back negative, is that possible, I have a terrible fear of needles so would rather not get tested again
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