The liver is the largest gland in the human body, and it helps in digesting food, storing energy and detoxifying, and may develop inflammation. What are the causes of hepatitis? What are its types? What are its symptoms? What are the treatments? Answers in this comprehensive report.

According to the National Library of Medicine in the United States, viruses cause most cases of hepatitis, as hepatitis can occur as a result of drug or alcohol abuse, and also may occur as a result of the immune system accidentally attacking healthy cells in the liver.

The National Library adds that some people with hepatitis may not have symptoms, while others may have symptoms, such as:

  • Anorexia
  • vomiting
  • nausea
  • Diarrhea
  • Dark urine
  • stomach pain
  • Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)

Some forms of hepatitis are mild, others can be dangerous, and may lead to liver scars that lead to cirrhosis, and some types of hepatitis may play a role in the development of liver cancer.

Sometimes hepatitis disappears on its own. If this does not happen, it can be treated with medication. Sometimes hepatitis lasts a lifetime.

The following is detailed information on each type of hepatitis from the World Health Organization:

Hepatitis A

It is caused by the hepatitis A virus, which spreads primarily when a person with no infection (and not vaccinated against him) is eating food or water contaminated with the stool of a person with the disease. Among the factors associated with water and food contamination, inadequate sanitation services (sanitation and hygiene services) and the low level of personal hygiene.

The World Health Organization says that unlike hepatitis B and hepatitis C, hepatitis A infection does not cause chronic liver disease and is rarely fatal, but it can also cause debilitating and rapid hepatitis (acute hepatic impairment) which is often fatal. .

In total, WHO estimates that hepatitis A caused in 2016 almost 7,134 deaths worldwide (representing 0.5% of all deaths from viral hepatitis).

One way to prevent disease is to improve sanitation and food safety, and to follow personal hygiene practices, such as regular washing of hands before meals and after entering the bathroom, and vaccination for hepatitis A virus, as many hepatitis A vaccines are available globally.

Hepatitis B B

It is caused by the hepatitis B virus and can cause both acute and chronic diseases. HIV infection is most often transmitted from mother to child during birth, and through contact with the blood of an infected person or other body fluids, according to the World Health Organization.

This inflammation is a major global health problem, can cause chronic infection and increase the risk of people dying from cirrhosis and liver cancer.

In 2015, the WHO estimated 257 million people to be infected with chronic hepatitis B.

In 2015, hepatitis B was estimated to have caused 887,000 deaths, mostly due to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (i.e. primary liver cancer).

Hepatitis B can be prevented with safe, available and effective vaccines of 98% to 100%. Prevention of hepatitis B infection prevents complications from the disease, including chronic diseases and liver cancer.

Hepatitis B virus can survive outside the body for at least 7 days. During this period, it may still cause infection if it enters the body of a person who is not vaccinated. The incubation period for hepatitis B virus is 75 days on average, but it may range from 30 days to 180 days.

The hepatitis B virus may cause a chronic liver infection that can later turn into cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) or liver cancer.

There is no specific treatment for acute hepatitis B, so care aims to keep the patient comfortable and have an appropriate nutritional balance, including compensation for fluids lost due to vomiting and diarrhea. The most important aspect is to avoid giving medications unnecessarily. Patients should not be given acetaminophen / paracetamol and antiemetic drugs.

Chronic hepatitis B infection can be treated with medication, including oral antivirals. Treatment can slow the progression of cirrhosis, reduce liver cancer rates, and enhance the patient's long-term survival.

The hepatitis B vaccine is the mainstay of this disease.

Hepatitis C

It is caused by the hepatitis C virus, and can lead to both acute and chronic hepatitis, ranging in severity from a mild illness that lasts a few weeks to a serious disease throughout life. Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer, according to the World Health Organization.

Hepatitis C virus is a blood borne virus, and the most common methods of infection occur through exposure to small amounts of blood. It may occur through injecting drug use, unsafe injection practices, unsafe health care, blood transfusions and blood products without examination, and sexual practices that lead to exposure to blood.

Worldwide, an estimated 71 million people coexist with chronic hepatitis C infection. A large number of people with chronic infection develop to develop cirrhosis or liver cancer.

WHO estimates in 2016 indicated that about 399,000 people died from hepatitis C, with most of these deaths from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (i.e. primary liver cancer).

Antiviral drugs can cure more than 95% of people with hepatitis C infection, thereby reducing the risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.

There is currently no effective vaccine for hepatitis C, so prevention of infection with hepatitis C virus depends on reducing the risk of exposure to the virus in health care settings and among populations at greater risk, such as injecting drug users.

Hepatitis D

It is caused by the hepatitis D virus, a virus that requires the presence of the hepatitis B virus. Infection with the hepatitis D virus occurs only in a concurrent manner or as an additional infection besides the hepatitis B virus, according to the World Health Organization.

HIV infection is most often transmitted from mother to child during birth, and through contact with the blood of an infected person or other body fluids.

At least 5% of people with chronic hepatitis B virus infection also have hepatitis D virus infection associated with this infection, resulting in a total of 15-20 million people infected with hepatitis D virus worldwide.

Hepatitis D infection can be prevented with hepatitis B vaccination.

Hepatitis E

It is caused by the hepatitis E virus, and WHO estimates that there are about 20 million cases of hepatitis E virus annually around the world, which leads to an estimated 3.3 million cases with symptoms of hepatitis E, according to the World Health Organization.

WHO estimates that hepatitis E caused about 44,000 deaths in 2015 (accounting for 3.3% of deaths from viral hepatitis).

The virus is transmitted through feces by drinking contaminated water in the first place. The virus is excreted in the feces of infected people. The infection usually heals without treatment and self-dissolve within a period ranging between two and 6 weeks. Individuals sometimes develop a serious form of the disease known as acute hepatitis (acute liver failure) that can kill a proportion of people with it.

In rare cases, severe hepatitis E can be severe, and cause acute hepatitis (acute liver failure); Patients with it are at risk of death.

There is no specific treatment that can alter the course of acute hepatitis E. Given that hepatitis E is usually self-healing without treatment, his admission to hospital is generally unnecessary. However, patients with fatal hepatitis need to be hospitalized, and those infected with pregnant women who have symptoms should also be hospitalized.

Autoimmune hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis is a rare cause of long-term hepatitis in which the immune system attacks and damages the liver, according to the United Kingdom National Health Service.

It is not clear what causes autoimmune hepatitis and it is not known if anything can be done to prevent it. As the inflammation continues, the liver can be damaged so much that it stops working properly.

Treatment of autoimmune hepatitis includes medications that suppress the immune system and reduce inflammation.