Hepatitis A

Question: What are the side effects of hepatitis vaccinations? I just got my hepatitis b shots in school today, please tell me what the side effects are! I got some side effects like less energy and sore body parts but what are other side effects.

Answer: Serious side effects after administration of the hepatitis B vaccine are extremely rare. There have been some anecdotal reports of the association of hepatitis B vaccination with chronic illness such as autoimmune disorders. However, there have been no scientific data supporting these claims. Large-scale immunization exercises have been ongoing in many other countries and in the United States, and thus far there has been no association of hepatitis B vaccination with serious adverse events. No clear association has been demonstrated between hepatitis B vaccination and disorders such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, transverse myelitis, optic neuritis, and seizures. Even then, such alleged associations are still being studied to further ensure the safety of the vaccine. A recent study demonstrated that persons who developed rheumatoid arthritis following hepatitis B vaccination were actually genetically susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis, making it difficult to correlate the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis with hepatitis B vaccination. Considering the large number of doses of HBV vaccine administered and the very low numbers of serious adverse reactions, it is possible that adverse reactions reported after hepatitis B vaccination may represent coincidence rather than causation.

Question: What is the Chance of my boyfriend having hepatitis if he has been using needles? He has injected drugs about five times in the the last 3 to 4 months. I am worried that he'll pick up some kind of hepatitis and pass it on to me. How likely is this?

Answer: You should also be concerned about HIV/AIDs. You can do better than him.

Question: Can herpes and hepatitis C be transferred to another person by kissing on the mouth? My sister has herpes (the STD one) and my mom has hepatitis.....My other sister and I are concerned because they both kiss my little 16 month old niece on the mouth all the time. It grosses me out. Is there any way that my niece can get either of those diseases from kisses? I want to say something to my sister and mom but don't want to hurt their feelings.

Answer: Hepatitis C - NO, unless you have an open wound on your mouth and they have an open wound on their mouth - it requires their blood to come into conatct with your blood. So unless you get into a fight with your relatives and both have bloody lips then kiss on the lips to make up, then it is not possible to get Hep C. Hepatitis C is not transferred through saliva or any other bodily fluids except for blood. Herpes - I don't think you are french kissing your relatives so I wouldn't think that you could get herpes from that, Herpes loves nerve cells and that is how it enters the body, that is why it shows up on parts of the body with high clusters of nerve cells...lips and genitals. It needs nerve cells to replicate.

Question: How to avoid catching hepatitis from your spouse? We just found out my husband has Hep C & A. How do I avoid catching both of these types of Hepatitis?

Answer: I doubt your husband has hep A, likely had it many years ago and now immune. HCV is chronic. You cannot get it sexually, there is no good evidence to such. He got it from IV drugs, or tattoos or snorting drugs, i.e. a parenteral route. You can get it from doing same or sharing razors or toothbrushes, i.e. anything that can let blood. You can be vaccinated against HAV and HBV, but no vaccine to HCV as yet.

Question: Is it possible to contract hepatitis b where i work? I work as a janitor and i clean toilets. Is it possible for me to contract hepatitis from cleaning the toliets?

Answer: yes, wear gloves and wash you hands. there is a shot you can get to be immune to hep b. get it.

Question: How do you know if you have chronic hepatitis instead of acute? In my notes it says Hepatitis A incubation period is 2-6 weeks. And then you have hepatitis and then it takes 2-4 months for it to resolve. So what time period makes it chronic? How olong do you have to have hep a or b or c to be considered chronic? The phases of the illness are confusing

Answer: Longer than 6 months is the cutoff that separates acute from chronic hepatitis. Hepatitis A does not cause chronic hepatitis. One either resolves the infection or in rare instances can die from it. The others mentioned are capable of causing chronic hepatitis with HCV causing a greatly increased rate of chronic hepatitis vs hepatitis B in adults. When infants and young children are exposed to hepatitis B about 90% develop chronic infections and later exposures as an adult tend to have more people resolve the infection without developing chronic hepatitis.

Question: How likely is it to get hepatitis through sex? Had unprotected sex the other night with someone i dont really know, a friend siad he heard this person had hepatitis. Please help.

Answer: first of all, hepatitis testing will not be positive for awhile, wait about 3-4 months prior to testing. Secondly, hepatitis B is mainly transmitted thru sex in this country. Hep A is not, and it is extremely unlikely that you got Hepatitis C from sex. I would be more concerned about other disease (herpes, chlamydia, AIDS, etc)

Question: How long does it take for Hepatitis blood tests to come back with accurate results? My girlfriend has recently been taken into hospital and no-one knows what's wrong with her. The hospital took bloods to test for Hepatitis and came back within a week saying that she was clear, however I have heard from other sources (without any evidence yet) that it can take up to 2 months for the blood cultures to grow. Can someone please answer with a link to a trusted source stating how long it should normally take? Many thanks, Pan

Answer: if your girlfriend was tested for hepatitis, and obviously she is very sick and the tests came back negative, then she does not have hepatitis. she probably got screened for everything as soon as she got admitted. sometimes people can be in sort of a "window period" of disease where things like hepatitis is still growing per say in the body and will not show up on the test because it has not yet caused enough damage. if doctors REALLY think their patient is positive, you are usually told to come back in 6 months to get re-tested. testing for hepatitis is not done in blood cultures. blood cultures are for really sick people suspected of having bad bacteria in their blood. the bottles are normally kept for 5-7 days. if they flag as positive they are immediately taken out and the blood is put on growing media to better help the people in the lab identify what the bacteria is.

Question: What happens to a person that has stage 3 hepatitis? My mom has stage 3 hepatitis. I was wondering what is happening to her. How much pain does the disease cause her? How much longer does she have to live?

Answer: I am so sorry your mom is so sick. I think your best answer should come from your mom's doctor and he/she should be more than willing to sit down with you and discuss a care plan for her and what her status is. None of us online can truthfully discuss your mom's case better than her own doctor because only he/she would know exactly how progressed your mom's disease is. Good luck to you and your mom. Please call her doctor and arrange a meeting with him - without your mom of course. If you live out of town, call and tell his secretary that it is imperative that you speak with him about your mom's condition. Before you do see or talk to him, make a list of all your questions including the ones above and include questions about DNR and hospice. Good luck to you.

Question: What causes and how to recognize early phases of hepatitis ? especially the one which is hardest to diagnose early. I smoked cigarette leftovers from the ground and soon after i got this irritating thing in my throat which lasts almost a month from now and makes me constantly to spit. My question is, what could it be. could it be hepatitis ?

Answer: You almost certainly cannot get hepatitis from a cigarette on the floor. Hep B can be sexually transmitted or from a needle stick, there has not been one documented case of Heb B obtained from a cigarette. Hep C is harder to catch, there has to be blood to blood contact. It is also the one that takes longer to seroconvert. Early phases of Hep B and C are fatigue (major fatigue), jaundice (yellowing of the skin, and whites of the eyes yellow), loss of appetite, weight loss, darkened urine, light stools that can be gray or whitish...1/2 the people have no symptoms, If you think you are exposed to any of the Hep viruses get tested at a local std clinic. Hep B has a vaccine to prevent it though there are some studies that say the Hep B vaccine can have some health consequences like Multiple Sclerosis in rare cases. Hep C is more often than not chronic, 15% or so clear the virus, 85% remaine chronic and lifelong, and Hep B clears itself in 95% of the cases. The other 5% is chronic and lifelong. I think you are ok but if in doubt get tested 3-4 months after exposure to be sure. Good luck, and good health.

Question: i took a whole bunch of test and one thing i cam back positive for was hepatitis bsab? what is it? is it something that is harmful? is it the same as hepatitis b?

Answer: That's normal. That is an indicator of immunity against Hepatitis B. If it was positive, it just means that your Hep B immunization was effective. Nothing to worry about. If you get a positive Hep BcAb, that would be a different matter.

Question: hepatitis a? i made out with 5 illegal mexicans in the past week (i'm not trying to shock people, or sound like a whore, or get attention, its just rue ok). do you think i am at high risk for contracting hepatitis a? i am going to get a shot for it soon just in case. am i paranoid though? i meant true not rue. lol how do "play it safe" when making out? that was the first crazy party i've ever been to, and i controlled myself! but trust me i don't think i'm going to do that again anytime soon. you get B and C vaccines. They are now giving babies the A ones, but people over the age of 5 or something probably didnt get them. I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH ANYONE. I AM STILL A VIRGIN! I JUST MADE OUT. THATS ALL.

Answer: Hepatitis is an infection and/or inflammation of the liver, it may be bacterial or viral in nature.....and Hep A is usually transmitted via the fecal (butt) to oral (mouth) route. We see it here in Iraq because alot of the local nationals don't either wash their hands, or they eat food prepared by someone who hasn't washed their hands. You can also get it from eating raw shell fish that have been exposed to raw sewage. Best of luck to you........

Question: what are the main options for a hepatitis A patient with the liver infection? Is it cureable for a Hepatitis A patient with a liver infection?What are its symptoms?

Answer: Hepatitis A either recovers completely or the patient goes into acute fulminant liver failure and dies. There is no chronic infection. The disease is self limited and lasts for 2 to 4 weeks. There is low grade fever initially, nausea and vomiting. Then, fever subsides.Whites of eyes become yellow. Stool is pale and urine, yellow. Nausea and vomiting lasts for about 2 weeks, then jaundice starts to subside.

Question: What happens if the interval between the 2nd and 3rd vaccination of the hepatitis B virus is too long? Can you still use the first 2 vaccinations eventhough 5 years have passed since my second vaccine of hepatitis b? Or should I start by scratch and receive all 3 vaccinations (repeating the first 2)? In other words, do I need to get one more shot, or do I need 3 shots?

Answer: 5 years is too long a break between shots, You'll have to start the series over.

Question: What is Hepatitis of the Liver? And how do people get it? My Gram has it and we don't know much information about it. Wikipedia isn't being helpful this time. Anyone know what this Hepatitis of the liver all about? Edits: She was diagnosed by a doctor and is on medications and has check ups and stuff, so she's all set there. But she won't talk about it. So my family and I want to learn as much as we can about it, to help her out and to make sure she's okay.

Answer: It is called hapatitis C. There are several different types (or grades). It is ususully gooten by sexual contact, iv drug use, or (not common since blood has been analyzed, in 1992.) from blood transfusions I do not know who diagnosed her with this, but she needs to see a liver specialist (or gastroenterologist). He can diagnose what grade, and exact type of hepatitis she has. I have hepatitis C, and it is a rough disease. I did get it through a blood transfusion, before it was being analyzed. I jere is a real great reference about hepatitis c. Causes, symptoms, medications, diagnosis etc. Even support groups. http://www.emedicinehealth.com/hepatitis… I wish your grandma the best. I will pray for her. Steve

Question: What are your chances that a canada working visa be approved if you are a hepatitis B healthy carrier? What are your chances that your canada working visa be approved if you are a hepatitis B healthy carrier and certified by the dr. that you are not infectius? It is a temporary resident visa for two years and the work is in food industry.

Answer: Hi jaz_bgs, If you're in Australia and have a question about hepatitis, you can call the national hepatitis C infoline on 1300 HEP ABC (1300 427 222). This national infoline diverts to information and support lines at your local state/territory council. Hope that helps, Hepatitis Australia