[MERGED] Hepatitis B

[sweethums]

thanks for the reply. youve mentioned about this addtl test called hepatitis profile, can this be done here in the phils? bka kse sa ibang bansa lang. my friend is quite worried about this, nasasama na den ako. she told me ala daw syang symptoms yon nga lang shes always tired? shes worried na baka contagious daw.. napapasa ba ito thru kissing then? chka pag uminom sya sa glass tpos iinoman den ng iba?

pwede rin bang hindi mag take ng meds if u have hepa B? hope to hear from you doc. thanks!

[bjmanabat]

hepatitis profile is available here in the philippines. it costs around 1000 to 1500 pesos. once you have the results already have an internal medicine specialist or a gastroenterologist to interpret it for you. if you want to save from pofessional fees then post your results here.

if your friend is assymptomatic pwede syang di mag take ng medicines.

[aileen08]

Originally posted by bjmanabat
used to be there are only 2 types of hepatitis that is A and B. right now you have C,D,E, and lately F. those with clinical significance however in our local set up are hepatitis A,B and C.

hepatitis A is spread by orofecal route so it can be present in water, food, utensils, secretions. so ingestion is the usal manner of transmission. it usually run a benign course of 2 to 6 weeks with symptoms like fever, jaundice, abdominal pain, dark colored urine and light colored stools.

hepatitis C is usually transmitted by blood transfusion. the actual incidence in the philippines is unknown and the symptoms can be like hepatitis A or no symptoms at all as in cases of carriers.

I will discuss more on hepatitis B because this is the actual case of your friend. firstly hepatitis B can be of different types the carrier state (the most common and usually discoverd incidentally by routine laboratoty screening), chronic active and the chronic persistent hepatitis. the carriers are usually assymptomatic while those with chronic hepatitis are in a way symptomatic. carriers usually runs a benign course while chronic hepatitis may lead to cirrhosis and/or liver cancer in the future. to know if someone with hepatitis is contagious, an additional test called hepatitis profile should be done. it will tell you how long its been going on, if your body already developed antibodies against it and if you are contagious.

ty

[cookies`n`cream]

nag pa inject kc ako ng 1 booster dose last week & meron pang next 2 doses for next month.

does that mean na im safe from hepa A-F if i had a vaccine?

[eyedoc]

No. Vaccine covers only for the particular type of hepatitis. The most common vaccine is against hepatitis B, which gives you protection against Hep B only.

[bjmanabat]

also its not enough to have just the vaccination. it is also important to know the antibody titers in your system. you see its like this once a hepa vaccine is injected to you the body's responce should be that it will produce antibody against it. significant antibody titers is usually present by the third dose of the vaccine. there are however some individuals who does not produce significant antibody titers even after the booster dose.

[treefingers]

i know somene who's got this. sabi nya unlike hepa A di raw to curable cuz nasa dugo na daw ito. unless u go thru blood transfusion. is this true?

sayang nga eh cuz shes preparing to go abroad so he had to quit the caregiver course.

some more questions:

- how is hepa b acquired? is this inborn? how about hepa a?

- how will this affect the carrier? like my friend she was made to back out from her caregiver dream cuz of it. i dont see any big fuss about this thing cuz she looks healthy.

i understand there's a vaccine for this. unfortunately she didnt have this and ako din!

[Ira]

Hepatitis B is a blood-borne disease, meaning, it's acquired only through contact with infected blood--transfusion, infected needles, sex with an infected person. It's not inborn. Hepatitis A is an infection caused by ingestion of either water or food tainted with fecal material from an infected person. A hepatitis B carrier often appears healthy, but they are at increased risk for getting liver cancer, and a small percentage become really sick and die of liver failure in a relatively small period of time after getting infected. They also can transmit the disease to other people, and the worst scenario would be an infected person working in the health care system. I personally wouldn't want someone with hepatitis B to have direct, prolonged contact with my patients.

[kabise]

when i was going to school, one requirement is to have Hep B vaccine, before they will give you the vaccine they do a blood analysis to see if you are infected or not. the doc that talked to me that time said that somehow my surface antigen (whatever that means) is already up therefore no need for me to take the vaccine. he farther said that i must have been exposed in some point of my life with the disease. they did not classify me as carrier tho, but still worries me a lot.

my questions;

what are the precautionary measures that i need to take to make sure my exposure remains inactive?

can i pass my infection to my children and wife?

if i have an antigen for the disease does it really means that i have a chronic infection?

Thanks in advance, Doc and have a happy holidays. i.e. if you are not going to work thru the holidays.

[treefingers]

can i be cured then?

[treefingers]

can IT be cured then?

The infected person lives with us and takes care of our little one. She's been with us for about a decade now. What sort of contact should be avoided to keep away from transmission? Should we give her her utensils etc?

[treefingers]

...her own utensils etc

[eyedoc]

This is quite a complicated topic. I'll refer you to the following site:
WHO information

CDC site

Hope they help. Post away for other questions.

[treefingers]

hey thanks, man!

[treefingers]

clarify ko lang:

makakuha mo rin ba to by direct contact with the infected person's saliva? for example she doesnt have her own utensils and di rin sterellized. minsan kasi nakikita kong sinusubo nya rin sa mga alaga nya ang kutsarang ginagamit nya!!

****** ina na talaga to!

[eyedoc]

No, hepa B can't be transmitted by using the same utensils. That's for hepa A. Still, it's good practice not to share unwashed spoons.

[Ira]

Originally posted by kabise
when i was going to school, one requirement is to have Hep B vaccine, before they will give you the vaccine they do a blood analysis to see if you are infected or not. the doc that talked to me that time said that somehow my surface antigen (whatever that means) is already up therefore no need for me to take the vaccine. he farther said that i must have been exposed in some point of my life with the disease. they did not classify me as carrier tho, but still worries me a lot.

my questions;

what are the precautionary measures that i need to take to make sure my exposure remains inactive?

can i pass my infection to my children and wife?

if i have an antigen for the disease does it really means that i have a chronic infection?

Thanks in advance, Doc and have a happy holidays. i.e. if you are not going to work thru the holidays.

You should go to your physician to get a Hepatitis profile to check whether you already have the antibodies. Your being HBsAg+ only signifies infection with the hepa B virus, but does not give me any information concerning infectivity or the presence of ongoing liver damage.

You're welcome, and happy holidays too.

[treefingers]

doc, i want to clarify if one can acquire the virus thru sharing utensils with an infected person. thanks

[Ira]

Hepatitis A is transmitted through contact with contaminated feces which can be carried to the mouth. This happens through swallowing food or water that has been in contact with infected faeces or when using the toilet and not properly washing hands afterwards. Food, liquid, or eating utensils that have been handled by an infected person can thus transmit the virus if the person didn't wash his hands after using the toilet.

[gracias98]

Pls help my sis on this, she was found to be medically unfit for foreign employment due to hepa B(HBsAg- 3.00).what does this indicate? She still wants to pursue her application but from what ive heard, there's no definite cure for hepa B.is this true?they said whenever she takes the test it will always reveal that she had been infected eventhough virus is dormant(?). i recall that she had the same test prior to college graduation and she was the only one from the class that did not undergo vaccination. Findings were the same i believe...

We have consulted an internal med MD and requested for SGPT, complete hepatitis profile and Hepa B virus DNA test. what would those tests yield? Does she really need to have all those tests when she doesnt present any signs or symptoms of a liver problem(no jaundice, diminishing appetite, fatigue, abdominal pains etc)? Tests are pricey that's why she wanted to find out if it will be worth for her to undergo all procedures. What are the chances that she'll be treated and in the future be eligible for foreign employment? what's the usual treatment mode for this? we will greatly appreciate reply from you docs!

thanks!