Hepatitis BHepatitis comes in many flavours and in mainly concerned with damage to the liver. Hepatitis B (or Hep B, as you may sometimes hear) is the one most commonly transmitted through sexual contact, with Hepatitis C also possible on rare occasions.
Like some viruses, Hepatitis B is not always a death sentence, with many people making a recovery naturally within the early stages of infection, although medical treatment may be required if the virus continues to the Chronic stage. Hepatitis C, on the other hand, is more serious yet can still be treated successfully if diagnosed at an early stage.
Where available a simple vaccination can prevent the spread of Hepatitis B, though currently there has been no successful vaccine produced for Hepatitis C.
Transmission
Like many other sexually transmitted infections, Hepatitis is passed on via bodily fluids that contain blood. This may be through unprotected sexual intercourse - including oral sex - the exchange of infected blood through transfusions, childbirth and the recycling of infected needles.
Symptoms
There are two terms for Hepatitis, dependent on how long you have it. Up to six months and it's Acute Hepatitis or Chronic Hepatitis if it persists for a much longer period of time.
Symptoms of Acute Hepatitis include liver inflammation, vomiting, jaundice and sometimes death in more extreme cases. Chronic Hepatitis sufferers can often develop increased symptoms such as cirrhosis and cancer of the liver, which may carry a higher risk than the original virus.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Hepatitis B and can be detected through a simple blood test. Hepatitis C, however, is much more difficult to detect during the early staged of infection as no major symptoms occur to the majority of those infected. Symptoms may not occur until years after infection to the stage that advanced liver disease is detectable.
A course of drugs can be provided to help prevent the virus from replicating should treatment be required for Hepatitis B, although there is currently no direct 'cure'.
For Hepatitis C, a course of anti-viral drugs may be prescribed over a long period of time - from 24 to 48 weeks - with a 50-75% success rate. This rate is greatly increased if the virus is discovered during the early stages of infection.