Hepatitis A
An easily spread disease of the liver.
You can become infected with Hepatitis A simply through the
eating and drinking of contaminated food or water. In close
family environments and heavily populated areas with close
contact the disease spreads easily.
Hepatitis A can be passed via sexual activity or oral
contact with a small amount of the virus. It is there fore
extremely important that hands are washed before and after
eating, drinking and going to the toilet as the virus can
also be found in faeces.
"Hepatitis A does not always show
symptoms, however, it can still be passed on by anyone
that is infected"
Currently there is no specific treatment for Hepatitis A,
however, it will normally run it's course within 2-8 weeks,
obviously every case is different and some people can be ill
for up to 6 months.
Symptoms of Hepatitis A can include the following:
- Flu-like symptoms
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Abdominal pain
- Itchy skin
- Jaundice (yellow discoloration of the skin and the eyes)
You can get a vaccination to protect yourself from the Hepatitis A
virus from your local doctor, this will generally protect
you for a 12 month period and with regular boosters you can
achieve protection for up to 10 years.
Hepatitis A is not generally a serious long-term health problem,
and most patients make a full recovery from it, long
term damage to your liver is rare however there is a small chance that it will
result.
|
