Acute hepatitis A is a liver disease that occurs as a result of a person being infected with the same virus. In the process of this disease, an inflammatory process occurs in the infected liver, which affects the condition of his entire body.
This article will address issues such as:
- Causes of Hepatitis A.
- Symptoms and treatment of hepatitis A.
- Hepatitis A vaccination.
- The incubation period of this disease.
- Medicinal hepatitis (symptoms and treatment).
- Toxic hepatitis.
- Alcoholic hepatitis (symptoms, treatment).
- Prognosis of hepatitis.
Causes of hepatitis A infection
Infection can occur due to violations of basic hygiene rules. The use of dirty water, unwashed vegetables and fruits can lead to infection with this disease. It is also necessary to exercise caution in direct contact with a sick person, since hepatitis A is transmitted by domestic means.
The virus can exist on the hands of an infected person for several hours. On the remnants of food, it also persists for a long time. If hepatitis A patient is in your home, it is forbidden to use common utensils and personal hygiene items, as this can lead to infection of all family members.
The route of infection with this disease is fecal-oral, therefore, with homosexual (bisexual) contacts in men, a transmission route such as sexual is possible. Hepatitis A does not indulge in heterosexual intercourse.
The incubation period for hepatitis A infection
The incubation period of this disease occurs on average within a month. At this time, the virus multiplies in the blood of a sick person, reaching the target organ (liver), as a result of which damage to its cells and tissues begins.
Clinical manifestations of hepatitis A begin only after dysfunction of the body occurs due to insufficient work of the affected organ.
The duration of the incubation period varies from 10 to 50 days and depends on several factors:
- From virulence, as well as from the nature of the pathogen virus.
- From the amount of virus that has entered the human body.
- From the state of immunity and / or the compensatory properties of the diseased systems.
- From the method of infection (with a blood transfusion, the incubation period is reduced).
Symptoms and treatment of hepatitis A
One of the first symptoms of hepatitis A is signs of inflammatory processes in the liver of the patient. As a result, at first, the following are observed:
- Increase in body temperature (period from 4 to 10 days).
- Weakness and malaise.
- Muscle pain.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Loss of appetite.
The next stage of the disease, which occurs several days after the onset of the first signs, is characterized by the following symptoms:
- Darkening of urine.
- Lightening feces.
- Yellowness of the skin and sclera of the eye.
In some cases, the disease is asymptomatic, most often it occurs in children. Hepatitis A is not a serious disease and often goes away on its own. To alleviate the symptoms, the doctor can prescribe the necessary therapy aimed at relieving intoxication and improving the patient’s well-being. Vitamins may also be prescribed to increase the body's resistance to infection.
To cleanse the blood of toxins and cleanse the liver, intravenous droppers with glucose or saline are prescribed. In addition, with this disease, it is recommended that hepatoprotectors be taken to maintain liver cells and quickly restore its vital functions.
Symptoms and treatment of hepatitis A are similar to the signs and treatment of other types of viral hepatitis. However, it should be noted that this type of disease, among others, is the most "harmless" and is easily treatable.
Diagnosis of hepatitis A
Early diagnosis of hepatitis A is not possible due to the absence of pronounced symptoms. To make the correct diagnosis, it is necessary to clarify the patient's epidemiological history by questioning the patient.
Upon examination, the doctor identifies the signs of the disease and compares them with the results of biochemical and general blood tests. An assessment of the feces and urine of the patient is also performed.
An analysis such as blood for hepatitis A contains information about the condition of the liver, the degree of damage to it. The final confirmation of the disease is the presence of antibodies to this virus in it.
Forecasts
As noted earlier, the symptoms and treatment of hepatitis A are similar to other types of viral hepatitis. Despite the fact that this disease is the least life-threatening, in extremely rare cases, acute liver failure can develop, resulting in coma and death. In addition, damage to the biliary tract can occur, which is a complication of the disease. But such serious consequences of hepatitis A are extremely rare.
In most cases, the prognosis for this disease is favorable. Subject to medical advice, the disease rarely causes complications. Hepatitis of the liver in this case goes away without causing serious consequences for the body. After recovery, the function of the organ is fully restored, even in severe cases of the disease.
Also, this type of viral hepatitis does not develop into a chronic sluggish form. When cured, an ill person receives lifelong immunity to hepatitis A.
What to do to family members in contact with the patient
Hepatitis A virus is transmitted by the fecal-oral route. All members of the family, as well as the sexual partners of the affected person, should contact the local clinic. In this situation, doctors recommend quarantine to all relatives of the patient. After recovery, it is necessary to disinfect the patient’s personal belongings and those items that he used.
For prophylaxis, it is possible to administer an immunoglobulin injection at a dose of 0.02 ml / kg body weight. If contact with the patient was single, drug prophylaxis is not carried out.
In order to avoid infection with hepatitis A, it is enough to follow the basic rules, using individual cutlery and personal hygiene items. You should regularly and thoroughly wash your hands with disinfectants.
Hepatitis A vaccination
Hepatitis A vaccine is given intramuscularly by injection with a dead virus. In risk groups, mandatory vaccination is necessary, which guarantees almost 100% protection against this disease for up to 20 years. Vaccination is also effective in outbreaks of a viral disease epidemic.
Side effects when vaccinated are relatively rare. The most common complaints are pain and redness at the injection site, as well as headache.
Mandatory hepatitis A vaccination is indicated in the following list of citizens:
- Persons traveling to endemic areas.
- Water and sewage workers, as well as sewage workers.
- Military personnel.
- Injecting drug addicts.
- The staff of any childcare facilities.
- Patients with chronic (including viral) liver diseases.
- Homosexual and / or bisexual men.
- Patients who receive coagulation factor drugs.
- Workers in catering and grocery stores in endemic areas.
Contraindications for vaccination are:
- Acute SARS.
- Exacerbation of any chronic diseases.
- Allergy to vaccine components.
Medicinal hepatitis: symptoms and treatment
When taking certain medications, such a common disease as drug hepatitis can develop. It is diagnosed by the method of biochemical analysis of blood.
Many drugs, entering the human body, are excreted with the help of the liver, which takes on the entire burden of removing toxic substances from medications. In this case, often drugs inflict such a devastating blow on the body that symptoms appear that resemble signs of hepatitis.
Many substances contained in the medicine have contraindications, in which their use is undesirable for people who have any liver dysfunction. If you need to take two or more drugs, the risk of organ damage increases.
Symptoms of Drug Hepatitis
Medicinal liver hepatitis is accompanied by the same symptoms as any other type of disease: a decrease in appetite, nausea and vomiting, bitter belching, digestive problems, a feeling of heaviness and pain in the right hypochondrium, jaundice, dark urine and lightening of feces. It is impossible to make a diagnosis on your own, therefore, if these signs appear, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Hepatitis Cure
Medicinal hepatitis in the absence of timely medical care can go into such a serious illness as cirrhosis. Treatment should be prescribed by a specialist after laboratory diagnosis. Therapy is based on the following principles:
- Cancellation (replacement) of the drug that caused the liver disease.
- Detoxification therapy - the most rapid removal from the patient's blood of residues of substances that damage the liver.
- Reception of hepatoprotectors - drugs aimed at the rapid restoration of liver cells (Essential Forte, Heptral, etc.).
Toxic hepatitis
As a result of the ingestion of various toxic substances into the human body, such a serious illness as toxic hepatitis can develop. Symptoms, treatment of this disease are similar to signs and treatment of drug type.
Poisonous substances, poisoning human blood, provoke the destruction and death of liver cells, which entails consequences of varying severity. Industrial poisons, such as:
- arsenic;
- pesticides;
- phosphorus;
- phenols;
- aldehydes and others.
Also, the harmful effect on a vital organ is produced by excessive and chronic use of alcohol and some herbal medicines (godson, mustard, as well as the poisons of some mushrooms).
Chronic hepatitis
A group of liver diseases resulting from various factors are called chronic hepatitis. This disease is characterized by a protracted inflammatory process in the liver tissue, lasting at least six months.
Chronic hapetitis in most cases is provoked by pathogen viruses of types B, C, D. The following types of this disease are also common:
- Autoimmune hepatitis.
- Medicinal hepatitis.
- Alcoholic damage to the liver.
With a disease such as chronic hepatitis, the symptoms and treatment are similar to those already described. The main difference in the treatment of various viral hepatitis is that, in addition to taking hepatoprotectors, expensive and potent antiviral drugs are prescribed (Ribavirin, PegIntron, etc.).
Conclusion
"Hepatitis" in translation from Latin means "liver". In medicine, this is the name for a number of diseases that cause inflammation and / or damage to tissue or liver cells. The etiology of this disease is different, however, there are a number of similar signs that combine its various types. One of the main signs is symptomatology, signaling a violation of the normal functioning of the liver.
The most common disease in our time is viral hepatitis. A new method of treating such an ailment is the development and use of modern experimental drugs. There are types of viral hepatitis (for example, hepatitis C) that cannot be completely cured, therefore scientists working at medical research institutes are striving to develop innovative means aimed at curing these diseases.
For the prevention of various types of hepatitis, one should not only monitor the state of one's own diet, but also carefully consider personal hygiene. In addition, you can not be frivolous about violations of the integrity of the skin, as in some cases this can lead to infection with viruses.