Understanding Hepatitis

What Is Hepatitis?

If your doctor diagnoses you with hepatitis, you must ascertain which variety they are referring to. There are five main types, and they all have unique reasons. Hepatitis attacks your liver and produces inflammation, so they have one thing in common. Understanding hepatitis is important, thus, keep reading to know more about hepatitis in detail.

What Causes the Different Types?

The severity and duration of your hepatitis are both influenced by the type of virus that is causing it.

Hepatitis A. Typically, you contract it by ingesting or drinking something that has the virus in it. Since it almost always improves on its own, it is the least dangerous type. Your liver does not become permanently inflamed as a result.

Even so, 20% of those with hepatitis A become ill enough to require hospitalisation. There is a vaccine available that can stop it.

Hepatitis B. This kind spreads in a variety of ways. You can contract it via having sex with a sick person or from sharing a needle when using illegal substances. Additionally, women can transmit the virus to their newborn child at birth or shortly after.

The majority of individuals with hepatitis B recover, but a small minority can’t get well and develop into carriers, which means they can continue to spread the illness long after their own symptoms go away.

Hepatitis C. If you come into contact with infected blood or needles used to inject illegal narcotics or create tattoos, you could contract this disease.

Sometimes you only have minor symptoms or none at all. Hepatitis C can, however, occasionally cause cirrhosis, a dangerous scarring of the liver.

Hepatitis D only occurs if you have a hepatitis B infection already. It usually makes that disease worse. It can be transmitted through sex as well as from mother to kid.

Hepatitis E is most prevalent in Asia, Mexico, India, and Africa. People who return from a nation where the disease has outbreaks frequently get one of the few cases that appear in the U.S.

Similar to hepatitis A, you typically contract it through consuming infected food or drink.