Hepatitis D Virus
What is Hepatitis D Virus? It is an inflammation of the liver. This viral infection caused by the hepatitis D virus (previously called the Delta agent) can be self-limiting and the swelling can impair liver function and cause long-term liver problems, including liver scarring and cancer.
This virus was found by a doctor named Mario Rizzetto. He came up with the antigen that was found in the in the liver cells of some patients that had been infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV). According to research 850,000 people in the U.S. are estimated to be living with hepatitis B. The actual number may be as high as 2.2 million or as low as 730,000. Hepatitis D itself, the number is unknown, but it does coexist with Hepatitis B. Hepatitis
…show more content…
Such as urine, semen, blood, through pregnancy-mother and child, and vaginal fluids.
The diease affects the body with signs and symptoms that are jaundice, dark urine, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, confusion, bruising, and bleeding which is rare, and pruritus(itching). Scleral icterus, Fever, Tea-colored urine, Encephalopathy (which is rare), petechia with bruising (which is rare). Studies say that about 90% of the patients that have this are asymptomatic.
The Hepatitis D infection is diagnosed with several blood tests for the virus and the anti-HDV antibodies are detected by radioimmunoassay (RIA) or enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Once the blood test is done, if antibodies are discovered in the blood then that basically means the person has come in contact with the virus. They also might do another test to check a person’s liver. This test is called the Liver Function Test(LFTs). This test will just tell them how much protein, bilirubin, and liver enzymes are in the blood. At that point they will be able to say if the liver is just stress or if there is complete
…show more content…
There is no vaccine available for HDV, but the HBV vaccination is effective against HDV as a prevention in people who are not already HBV-infected by hepatitis B vaccination. No pharmacologic treatment for HDV has been approved yet. It has been found that the antiviral medication that is used for other types of hepatitis don’t work with hepatitis D. Patients are given large doses of the medication interferon to try and help manage the hepatitis. It is given for at least a year. This medication is a protein that could possibly stop the virus from continuing to spread and put it in remission. However, it is not always successful in that even after using the medication patients still might have a positive test for hepatitis D. So, we have to teach people to still be cautious and change lifestyles if they have a high-risk lifestyle so that the diease is not transmitted to anyone else. Hepatitis D is not curable and pretty much eventually it will lead to liver damage or cirrhosis of the liver. At that point if the liver is damaged too much they will need or end up with a transplant of the
Treatment is varied. There are several drugs used to treat hepatitis in the United States. Intron A, Epivir-HBV, Pegasys, Baraclude, Hepsera, Viread, and Tyzeka are the only FDA approved drugs that have been shown to slow the virus and decrease liver damage and in some cases the virus is killed completely ("Hepatitis Treatments," n.d.). Ultimately vaccination is the best way to prevent HBV. The vaccine has been found to be effective and safe. Administration is given over a 6 month time and consists of 3-4 shots ("Hepatitis B," n.d.) and is estimated to be 95% effective. Everyone should be vaccinated but the
It’s all something that they’ve heard about, but do they really know as much about the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) as they think? HBV is a virus that attacks the liver, which can cause lifelong infections and other serious diseases (CDC, 2014). HBV is spread in multiple ways and is more life threatening than people realize. Explaining HBV requires much understanding about the virus, so to start out, pathophysiology will be the first topic, then into clinical manifestations, medical management, nursing interventions, and to finish off with a conclusion of the disease. Surprisingly enough, there isn’t enough awareness about this virus as would be expected. It’s a very serious and potentially deadly disease that goes unspoken of.
A shot is given over 6 months to a 1 year. The shot is similar to how insulin is given to people with diabetes. Another current treatment is antiviral drugs. This kind of drugs is used to stop or slow down the Hepatitis B virus
Adults between the ages of 20 and 50 are more commonly said to be affected with hep-B in the United States than children. Since 1990 the routine for immunization against the disease has led to a decline in children for the past decades. African Americans are infected with the disease than either Hispanics or Caucasians, Alaskan Eskimos and Pacific Islanders however have a higher carrier status rate than other racial groups. Compared other racial groups Asian Americans are at increased risk of severe liver damage from hepatitis B. More males than females are infected with hepatitis B in all races and age groups Compared to tha of patients with hepatitis A or C, those with HBV infection are less able to continue their usual activities and require more time resting in bed.
Background: The term hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. The three major types of viral hepatitis include: A, B, and C. In 1973, the hepatitis A viral infection (HAV) was first discovered by Steven M. Feinstone as a nonenveloped, spherical, positive, stranded RNA virus. In 1963, Dr. Baruch Blumberg discovered an antigen that detected the presence of hepatitis B (HBV) in blood samples. Blumberg did not have the intent of discovering HBV; he was researching whether traits could potentially make hemophiliac patients susceptible to the same disease.
Hepatitis B was discovered by Dr. Barach Blumberg in 1965 but the vaccine was approved in 1981 by Pablo Valenzuela. Pablo Valenzuela was born on June 13, 1941. He is a Chilean Biochemist dedicated to biotechnology development. He is known for his genetic studies of hepatitis viruses. Pablo studied Biochemistry at Universidad de Chile and earned his PHD degree in 1970 in chemistry at northwestern University. Pablo is responsible for the biotechnology products in USA and Chile. He is co-founder of Early activities of Bio technology Start ups in USA and Chile. he is also professor and investigator in graduate programs.
Hepatitis B is transmitted when blood, semen, or another body fluid from a person infected with the Hepatitis B virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. This can happen through sexual contact; sharing needles, syringes, or other drug-injection equipment, or even from mother to baby at birth. For some people, hepatitis B is an acute, or short-term, illness but for others, it can become a long-term, chronic infection. In addition, some people, especially adults, are able to clear, or get rid of the virus without treatment. People who clear the virus become immune and cannot get infected with the Hepatitis B virus
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, the primary malignancy of the liver) is now the third most common cancer in the world affecting more than half a million people. The incidence of liver cancer varies greatly by race and ethnicity; and about 3 times more common in men than women [6]. The most common type of HCC - caused by Hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV) are most prevalent in Asia and Africa, as the presence of virus predisposes people to liver disease and subsequently HCC [7]. In such high prevalence areas of the world, HBV infection is often acquired at birth or in early childhood. In the US, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) account for more than 50% of people infected with HBV, although many of them are
A “dead” or “watered down” version of the disease is injected into your blood stream from a needle and this will stimulate the bodies immune system to make antibodies that will be able to fight of the disease. Antibodies will form and these will protect the body from the hepatitis disease if your body comes into contact with the disease. Your body will “remember” how to make these antibodies so if you do come in contact with Hepatitis B later on your body will already know how to fight it off. Other ways to stop the spread of Hepatitis B include washing your hands thoroughly after any potential exposure to the virus or its carrier ,avoiding direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids that are infected with the virus, cleaning up blood spills with a fresh diluted bleach solution as soon as possible, avoiding sharp objects like razors that have been used by someone else and not sterilized properly, avoiding illegal drugs and always make sure that needles are sterilized before using them. The science community is helping to keep the spread of Hepatitis B by developing the vaccines used and the government is providing the community with a way to stop the spread of hepatitis by giving theses vaccines to all high school aged children and babies when the have been born. The vaccines that have been developed to stop hepatitis b are stopping lots of people from getting extremely sick or ill. Hepatitis can not be spread by touching another person unless bodily fluids are exchanged so it is a good idea to make sure that when touching another person you where gloves and keep all contact between people to a
The symptoms start appearing after two to five weeks of infection. The main symptoms are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low fever, rashes, loss of appetite and yellowing of skin (jaundice), abdominal pain. Diarrhea occurs in case of children. No specific treatment is there. Patients need adequate rest and proper nutrition. If skin becomes yellow then the patient needs a blood test or a liver panel test. If a person vomits for a long period amount of time, they get dehydrated; then, only then, hospitalization is needed. Patients should drink a plenty amount of water, or fluids. He or she should take food, which does not cause any harm to the liver. Patients should avoid tea, coffee or any alcoholic beverages, which causes harm to liver. He or she takes adequate rest. He should not take any medicine which causes harm to liver. If patient is confused about taking medicine then he or she should consult a doctor. Techniques for growing HAV in cell culture have made it possible to generate sufficient amounts of virus for vaccine production. Several inactivated or live attenuated vaccines against hepatitis A have been developed, but only four inactivated hepatitis A vaccines are currently available internationally. All four vaccines are similar in terms of efficacy and side-effect profile. The vaccines are given parenterally, as a two-dose series, 6-18 months apart. The dose of vaccine,
Hepatitis is caused by a virus that is targeted at the liver, one of your most important organs!! Specifically, it causes inflammation and injury to the liver. Hepatitis comes in many different forms, five to be exact. There is Hepatitis A, B, C, D & E. Hepatitis is caused mainly by viruses, all of which are set on shutting down your liver. I will be specifically concentrating on Hepatitis A in this report. Hepatitis A is also known as infectious Hepatitis, an extremely contagious viral infection that often effects young children and young adults, especially those in large groups. It has been known to break out in schools, summer camps and music festivals etc.
The virus that infect Hepatitis D is the hepatitis D virus (HDV). Only those who are already infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) are at risk of getting hepatitis D, as it needs HBV to replicate in the body. Its transmission is a lot like HBV; contact with blood or body fluids of those infected already with the virus. There is an approximate 15 million people in the world chronically infected with HDV and HBV. Currently there is not an effective treatment for HDV except for the hepatitis B vaccine that’s proven to prevent HDV infection. HDV tends to make HBV infection more severe, for example; those who have chronic HBV infection, HDV infection can increase liver damage. Or develop liver problems more rapidly in the cases of those who
Hepatitis B is a significant global health problem. It is estimated that more than 350 million people worldwide have serological evidence of chronic HBV infection. During late 1960’s hepatitis outbreaks was reported among patients and staffs in hemodialysis centers. In 1972 - 1977, guidelines were published in UK &USA to reduce the spread of Hepatitis B virus in dialysis units. The Hepatitis vaccine made available to clinical use during 1980’s. With all of these measures the incidence rate of HBV is low, but it is still present in hemodialysis units. The prevalence of HBV across dialysis centers in Western Europe, Japan and the USA showed a range between 0-6.6percent, in Asia-pacific countries its around1.3% and 14.6 %. In the Middle East,
According to article "Hepatitis B (HBV, Hep B)" medical author Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP and Mohamad El Mortada, MD, Hep B is a virus that belongs to the Hapadnaviridae family, also it does not relate to Hep A or C. Furthermore, there is about 2 billion people in the world (past and present) who has evidence of Hep B and 2.2 million people in U.S. are chronically infected with Hep B. Many people may never see any symptoms and be able to spread the virus without even knowing it. Nettleman and Mortada, mention that in the United States, 95% of adults who get Hep B can clear themselves of the virus, however the remainder 5% end up with chronic Hep B. the virus infection occurs subtly and gradually over a long period of time. Drugs can suppress the reproduction up to 40% to 90% for patient with chronic Hep B (Nettleman and Mortada 2016).
"Hepatitis" means inflammation of the liver and also refers to a group of viral infections that affect the liver (CDC, 2014). There are five hepatitis viruses’ referred as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E with only three known to be transmitted sexually.