Viral hepatitis — that is, a liver inflammation caused by the hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E viruses — is a global health concern of epic proportions. It's so bad, in fact, that the World Health Organization estimates that one million people lose their lives as a result of hepatitis-related liver disease such as liver cancer every single year. A shocking 500 million people across the world live with chronic hepatitis B or C infections, but other (less talked about) kinds of hepatitis pose a huge threat, too.
What do you need to know about preventing viral hepatitis infections?
Preventing hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is usually a short-term illness that lasts anywhere between a few weeks to a few months, and from which most people make a complete recovery. This highly-contagious virus can also, however, do some serious damage in rarer cases — even leading to acute liver failure and, potentially, becoming fatal. Hepatitis a is spread through contaminated food or water, or through contact with infected fecal matter (the so-called "fecal-oral route"), and is much more prevalent in countries with poor sanitation, though about 6,700 new cases happen in the United States every year as well.
A safe and effective vaccine is available to protect you against hepatitis A — and though it's certainly a good idea to, say, make sure you use safe drinking water and wash your hands after any kind of contact with feces, this shot offers the best possible protection against hepatitis A. It's especially important to get vaccinated against hepatitis A (if you weren't already), if you want to travel to places where hepatitis A infections are common, if you are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, or if you already have a liver disease or are immunocompromised. All children should be vaccinated against hepatitis A, too.
Preventing hepatitis B
The hepatitis B virus can cause both acute and chronic infection, with the risk that the disease will become chronic being higher in young children. Around 22,100 people become newly infected with hepatitis B in the United States every year, and it's transmitted through exposure to contaminated blood, semen, or other bodily fluids. That means that IV drug use with shared needles and syringes, unsafe sex, direct contact with blood, and needlestick injuries (more common among healthcare workers) are all risk factors. Hepatitis B is also easily transmitted from a positive mother to her baby during childbirth.
Considering the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that two in three people with hepatitis B don't know they are living with the infection, that's a lot to ponder — especially once you add the fact that up to a quarter of people with chronic hepatitis B develop chronic liver disease (cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure). Especially in the long run, hepatitis B can cause severe health complications and death quite easily.
Once again, a safe and effective vaccine is available to protect you against hepatitis B. If you haven't had it yet, very strongly consider fixing that — even though you can take relatively effective preventative steps to reduce your risk of contracting hepatitis B by avoiding IV drug use, only having safe sex, and staying away from blood, a vaccine is still your best bet. You never know under what circumstances you may be exposed, after all, and that is especially true for people who work in healthcare or law enforcement, including correctional officers. If you haven't been vaccinated and believe you may have been exposed to hepatitis B, see a doctor immediately and ask for the vaccine or hepatitis B immune globulin. Starting treatment early on can prevent severe complications later on.
Preventing hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is primarily spread through contaminated blood. Like hepatitis B, it can be acute or chronic — but between 75 percent and 85 percent of infected people will develop a chronic infection. Such an infection can easily become fatal, with 18,153 deaths reported in the United States alone in 2016.
No vaccine is currently available for hepatitis C. That means prevention is completely up to you. While you can't avoid being born to someone with hepatitis C and it may be tricky to prevent needlestick injuries in a professional setting as well, you can take many effective steps to reduce your risk of hepatitis C:
- Do not use IV drugs. But if you do, always use safer, sterile, equipment and don't share your needles.
- Use sterile, safe, needles if you need to for medical reasons (like injecting insulin), and never share needles with anyone else.
- Avoid unsafe sex, since this is also a less common way of transmission.
- If you get piercings or tattoos, only do so in studios that take your health and safety seriously.
- Avoid sharing personal care items like razors and toothbrushes with people since these things can contain microscopic (or bigger) traces of blood.
- Keep in mind that around 50 percent of people with hepatitis C are unaware they are infected. Therefore, all contact with blood is a potential danger.
Preventing hepatitis D
Hepatitis D is a rarer but deadly viral hepatitis that can only infect people who also have hepatitis B, since the hepatitis D virus uses it to replicate. You can acquire hepatitis D at the same time as hepatitis B, or after you already have hep B, but never independently of it. This means that the same preventative measures that protect you against a HVB infection also work for this virusoid — and being immunized against hepatitis B will keep you safe from it.
Preventing hepatitis E
Hepatitis E is transmitted like hepatitis A — through the fecal oral route. With around 20 million infections a year and 70,000 deaths, this hepatitis virus shouldn't be taken lightly, even though it is rare in the developed world. The infection is especially dangerous in pregnant woman, as it causes about 3,000 stillbirths a year.
A safe and effective vaccine to protect against hepatitis E exists, but you probably can't have it. It was developed in China and though it's been around since 2012, it's not widely available yet. That means prevention depends on you. Always use safe drinking water. Boiling and chlorinating water kills any hepatitis E present in it. Avoid raw meat, especially pork and venison, too.
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- Photo courtesy of SteadyHealth