- An illness from mild to severe can result from the viral liver disease known as hepatitis-A.
- When a person consumes food or liquids contaminated by the feces of an infected person, it spreads through fecal-oral (or stool to mouth) transmission.
- Poor personal hygiene practices, like not washing hands often, and poor sanitation are both strongly linked to the disease.
- Since 300 000 people were impacted by a Shanghai outbreak in 1988, epidemics can grow rapidly and result in sizable economic losses.
- The best ways to fight the disease are better sanitation and the Hepatitis A vaccine.
Hepatitis A, also known as fecal-oral transmission, is a liver infection brought on by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). Unlike hepatitis B and C, which can lead to chronic liver disease, hepatitis A infection rarely results in death but can have debilitating effects.
Hepatitis A infections account for an estimated 1.4 million cases worldwide each year, and epidemics caused by tainted food or water can erupt violently, as seen in the epidemic that killed about 300,000 people in Shanghai in 1988. Hepatitis A infections have a tendency for cyclical recurrences.
The impact on food establishments identified as having the virus, as well as local productivity in general, can be significant. It may take weeks or months for people recovering from the illness to return to work, school, or regular life.
Symptoms of Hepatitis – A
There are a variety of mild to severe Hepatitis A symptoms, such as fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, and jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes).
Infected children under the age of six do not typically exhibit observable symptoms, and only 10% develop jaundice. Adults experience illness signs and symptoms more frequently than children, the severity of disease and mortality rises in older age groups.
Jaundice occurs in more than 70% of cases in older children and adults, and infection typically results in more severe symptoms. Most people recover without complications in a few weeks, or occasionally months.
Transmission
Casual contact between individuals does not spread the virus. HAV is typically spread from person to person when an uninfected person consumes food or beverages that have been tainted with the stool of a person with the virus.
Treatment of Hepatitis-A
Hepatitis A does not have a specific treatment; instead, care is focused on comfort and nutritional balance, including replacing lost fluids from vomiting and diarrhea. Recovery from symptoms following infection may be gradual and take several weeks or months.
Prevention
The best methods for preventing the disease are better sanitation and vaccination against Hepatitis A. Adequate supplies of clean drinking water and proper sewage disposal within communities, along with personal hygiene practices like routine hand-washing, help to stop the spread of HAV.
Immunization efforts
Consider alternative or additional preventive measures, such as improved sanitation and health education for improved hygiene, when planning for large-scale immunization programs.
Depending on the local circumstances, including the degree of risk to children, it is decided whether or not to include the vaccine in routine childhood vaccinations.
Homeopathic Treatment of Hepatitis – A
The general health is greatly improved on these homeopathic medicines without any side effects, and taking them for a longer period of time helps improve immunological levels and the disease can be kept under control. Homeopathic treatment can help in delaying the complications and the disease process is kept under check with symptomatic relief.
Homeopathy has been shown to be effective in treating a wide variety of viral infections, and it is highly advised in cases of hepatitis.
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