BACKGROUND MEDIA INFORMATION VIRAL HEPATITIS
BACKGROUND MEDIA INFORMATION VIRAL HEPATITIS
BACKGROUND MEDIA INFORMATION VIRAL HEPATITIS
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Acute viral hepatitis is usually much easier to diagnose than chronic hepatitis. Symptoms of<br />
fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, darkening of urine and jaundice indicate acute hepatitis and the<br />
diagnosis can be confirmed with blood tests. 1<br />
However, patients with chronic hepatitis often have no symptoms or only mild nonspecific<br />
symptoms such as fatigue. As a result, these patients can remain undiagnosed for years or even<br />
decades, with undetected liver damage progressing all the while. 1<br />
How is viral hepatitis treated<br />
No medical treatment is available for acute viral hepatitis. Care is aimed at maintaining comfort and<br />
replacing fluids that are lost from vomiting and diarrhoea. 1 In a few very severe cases (fulminant<br />
hepatitis) liver transplantation may be necessary. 12<br />
Current treatment for chronic hepatitis B & C involves injections that stimulate the immune system<br />
against the virus and therapeutic drugs that stop the virus from replicating - which, used in<br />
combination, cure approximately half of all hepatitis C patients. 13<br />
Treatment does not cure hepatitis B, but may turn an „aggressive‟ hepatitis B into a mild infection,<br />
which can stop the liver from being damaged. The majority of patients require long-term, in some<br />
cases life-long, treatment to stop the disease from progressing.<br />
Several new hepatitis C treatments are in development – the first generation of these will be used<br />
in combination with current treatments and hopefully lead to even greater cure rates. 14<br />
Treatment helps to prevent progressive liver damage, cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer 1 ;<br />
however, the drugs used can be very costly and are not available to most patients in developing<br />
countries. 2