Cause For Hepatitis B example essay topic

465 words
Amanda Sievers March 13, 2003 Abstract #1 Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) What is Hepatitis B? Hepatitis B is a liver disease. Hepatitis makes you liver swell and stops it from working right. You need a healthy liver. The liver does many things to keep you alive.

The liver fights infections and stops bleeding. It removes drugs and other poisons from your blood. The liver also stores energy for when you need it. The cause for Hepatitis B is a virus. A virus is a germ that causes sickness. You can get Hepatitis B by contact with an infected person's blood, semen, or other body fluid.

You can also get it from having sex with an infected person without using a condom, sharing drug needles, getting a tattoo or body piercing with dirty tools that were used on someone else, or even sharing a toothbrush or razor with an infected person. Hepatitis can make you feel like you have a flu. You might feel tired, feel sick to your stomach, have a fever, not want to eat, have stomach pain or have diarrhea. If you have any of these symptoms, go see the doctor. To check to see if you have Hepatitis B, the doctors will test your blood. If the test shows that you have Hepatitis B, they might give you drugs or surgery.

Outline 1) Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) a) Inflammation of the liver b) Most common out of hepatitis A, B, C, D and E c) Most serious 2) Symptoms a) Yellowing of the skin and eyes b) Dark urine c) Extreme fatigue d) Nausea e) Vomiting f) Abdominal pain 3) Who gets Hepatitis B a) Sub-Saharan Africa, Mostly of Asia, Pacific i) During childhood ii) General population- 8-10% become chronically infected ) Also found in Amazon and southern parts of Eastern and Central Europe b) Middle East and Indian sub-continent i) 5% are chronically infected c) Western Europe and North America i) Less than 1% chronically infected 4) Young Children with HBV a) 90% infants infected during first year of life b) 30-50% infected between 1-4 years of age 5) How to get Hepatitis B Virus a) Mains ways i) Perinatal (from mother to baby at the birth) ii) Child- to- child transmission ) Unsafe injections iv) Sexual contact 6) Treatments for chronic Hepatitis B and liver cancer a) Liver cancer i) Almost always fatal ii) Surgery and chemotherapy b) Chronic Hepatitis B i) Drugs (1) Interferon (2) Lamivudine (a) Cost thousands of dollars c) Cirrhosis i) Liver transplants 7) How Safe and Effective is vaccine a) One billion doses have been used b) 95% effective in preventing children and adults from developing chronic infection.