Symptoms and Treatment of Hepatitis A. Medicinal Hepatitis: Symptoms and Treatment

Acute hepatitis A is a disease of the liver that results from the infection of a person with the same virus. In the process of this disease, there is an inflammatory process in the liver of the infected, which affects the state of his entire body.

This article will consider such issues as:

• Causes of infection with hepatitis A.
• Symptoms and treatment of hepatitis A.
• Vaccination for hepatitis A.
• The incubation period of the disease.
• Medicinal hepatitis (symptoms and treatment).
• Toxic hepatitis.
• Alcoholic hepatitis (symptoms, treatment).
• Forecasts of hepatitis.

Causes of infection with hepatitis A

Infection can occur as a result of violations of basic hygiene rules. The use of dirty water, unwashed vegetables and fruits can lead to infection with this disease. Also it is necessary to be careful with direct contact with the sick person, since hepatitis A is transmitted by household means.

A virus can exist on the hands of an infected person for several hours. On the remains of food, it also persists for a long time. If there is a patient with hepatitis A in your home, sharing of utensils and personal hygiene items is prohibited , as this can lead to infection of all members of the family.

The path of infection with this disease is fecal-oral, therefore, under homosexual (bisexual) contacts in men, a transmission route such as sex is possible. Hepatitis A is not compromised in heterosexual intercourse.

The incubation period for infection with hepatitis A

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), resulting in the defeat of its cells and tissues.

Clinical manifestations of hepatitis A begin only after there is dysfunction of the body 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, and also from the nature of the virus-pathogen.
• From the amount of the virus that got into the human body.
• From the state of immunity and / or compensatory properties of the diseased systems.
• From the method of infection (with blood transfusion, the incubation period is shortened).

Symptoms and treatment of hepatitis A

Some of the first symptoms of hepatitis A are signs of inflammatory processes in the liver of the diseased. As a consequence, at first, there are observed:

1. Increase in body temperature (period from 4 to 10 days).
2. Weakness and malaise.
3. Muscle pain.
4. Nausea and vomiting.
5. Loss of appetite.

The next stage of the disease, coming in a few days after the first signs are manifested, is characterized by such symptoms:

1. Darkening of urine.
2. Clarification of feces.
3. Jaundice 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 illness and often passes by itself. To ease the symptoms, the doctor can prescribe the necessary therapy aimed at removing intoxication and improving the patient's well-being. To increase the body's resistance to infection, vitamin intake can also be prescribed.

To purify the blood from toxins and purify the liver, intravenous drips with glucose or saline are prescribed. In addition, with this disease is recommended the use of hepatoprotectors aimed at maintaining liver cells and the rapid restoration of its vital functions.

The symptoms and treatment of hepatitis A are similar to the symptoms and therapy for viral hepatitis of other types. However, it should be noted that this type of disease among others is the most "harmless" and easily treatable.

Diagnosis of hepatitis A

Early diagnosis of hepatitis A is not possible due to the lack of pronounced symptoms. To establish the correct diagnosis, it is necessary to clarify the patient's epidemiological history by interviewing the patient.

Upon examination, the doctor identifies the symptoms of the disease and compares them with the results of biochemical and general blood tests. An evaluation of the patient's urine and urine samples is also performed.

An analysis, like blood on hepatitis A, contains information about the liver condition, the extent of its damage. The final confirmation of the disease is the presence in it of antibodies to this virus.

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 least dangerous to life, in extremely rare cases, acute liver failure may occur, which leads to coma and death. In addition, lesions of 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 is favorable for this disease. With compliance with medical recommendations, the disease rarely causes complications. Hepatitis of the liver in this case passes without causing serious consequences for the body. After recovery, the function of the organ is completely restored, even with a severe course of the disease.

Also this variety of viral hepatitis does not develop into a chronic sluggish form. When a person has recovered, the person who is ill receives lifelong immunity to hepatitis A.

What should family members do when they are in contact with a sick person?

The hepatitis A virus is transmitted by the fecal-oral route. All family members, as well as sexual partners of a person who is ill, should contact a local polyclinic. In this situation, doctors recommend quarantine to everyone close to the patient. After recovery, it is necessary to disinfect the patient's personal belongings and those items that he used.

For the prevention of the injection of immunoglobulin in a dose of 0.02 ml / kg body weight. If contact with the patient was a one-time, medication prophylaxis is not carried out.

To avoid infection with hepatitis A, it is enough to observe the basic rules, using individual cutlery and personal hygiene items. Regularly and thoroughly wash hands with disinfectants.

Vaccination against hepatitis A

A vaccination against hepatitis A is done intramuscularly by injecting an injection containing a dead virus. In groups of risk, mandatory vaccination is required, which guarantees almost 100% protection against this disease for up to 20 years. Vaccination is also effective in the outbreak of an epidemic of viral disease.

Side effects during vaccination are relatively rare. The most common complaints are pain and redness at the injection site, as well as a headache.

Compulsory vaccination against hepatitis A is shown in the following list of citizens:

• Persons traveling to endemic areas.
• Workers of water supply and sewerage, as well as sewers.
• Servicemen.
• Injecting drug addicts.
• The staff of any children's institutions.
• Patients with chronic (including viral) liver diseases.
• Homosexuals and / or men with bisexual orientation.
• Patients who receive preparations of clotting factors.
• Employees of public catering establishments and food stores in endemic areas.

Contraindications for the vaccination are:

• Acute acute respiratory infections.
• 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 a biochemical blood test.

Many drugs, getting into the human body, are derived with the help of the liver, which takes on the entire load for removing toxic substances from medications. In this case, often drugs cause the organ so destructive impact that there are symptoms that resemble signs of hepatitis.

Many substances contained in the drug have contraindications, in which it is undesirable to use them to persons who have any violations of the liver. If it is necessary to take two or more drugs, the risk of organ damage increases.

Symptoms of medicinal hepatitis

Medicinal hepatitis of the liver is accompanied by the same signs as any other type of disease: a decrease in appetite, nausea and vomiting, bitter eructations, digestive problems, a feeling of heaviness and pain in the right hypochondrium, jaundice, darkening of urine and clarification of stool. It is impossible to diagnose independently, therefore, when these signs appear, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Treatment of medicinal hepatitis

Medicinal hepatitis in the absence of timely medical assistance can go into such a serious disease as cirrhosis. Treatment should be prescribed by a specialist after laboratory diagnosis. Therapy is based on the following principles:

• Cancellation (replacement) of a drug that caused liver disease.
• Desintoxication therapy - the fastest removal from the blood of the diseased remnants of substances damaging the liver.
• Reception gepatoprotektorov - drugs aimed at rapid recovery of liver cells (funds "Essential forte", "Heptral", etc.).

Toxic hepatitis

As a result of falling into the human body of various toxic agents, a serious illness such as toxic hepatitis can develop. Symptoms, treatment of this disease are similar to the symptoms and therapy of the drug type.

Poisonous substances, poisoning human blood, provoke the destruction and death of liver cells, which entails consequences of varying severity. The liver is affected by such industrial poisons as:

• arsenic;
• Pesticides;
• phosphorus;
• Phenols;
• Aldehydes and others.

Also, the destructive effect on the vital organ is produced by excessive and chronic use of alcohol and certain herbal medicines (ragwort, gorchak, and also poisons of some fungi).

Chronic hepatitis

A group of liver diseases that result from various factors are called chronic hepatitis. This disease is characterized by a protracted inflammatory process in the liver tissue that takes at least six months.

Chronic appetite in most cases provoke the virus-pathogens types B, C, D. Also common are the types of this disease:

• Autoimmune hepatitis.
• Medicinal hepatitis.
• Alcoholic liver damage.

With a disease such as chronic hepatitis, the symptoms and treatment are similar to those already described. The main difference in the therapy of various viral hepatitis is that, in addition to taking hepatoprotectors, expensive and potent antiviral drugs are prescribed (Ribavirin, PegIntron, etc.).

Conclusion

"Hepatitis" in Latin means "liver". In medicine, so called a number of diseases that cause inflammation and / or damage to liver tissue or cells. The etiology of this disease is different, however there are a number of similar characteristics that unite its different species. One of the main symptoms is symptomatology, signaling a violation of normal liver function.

The most common disease in our time is viral hepatitis. A new method for treating such an ailment is the development and application of modern experimental drugs. There are types of viral hepatitis (for example, hepatitis C) that are not amenable to complete cure, so scientists working in medical research institutes seek to develop innovative tools aimed at curing these diseases.

For the prevention of various types of hepatitis should not only monitor the status of their own diet, but also attentive to personal hygiene. In addition, one should not take lightly of violations of the integrity of the skin, as in some cases this can lead to infection with viruses.