Viruses from A to G
About one in twenty people will develop some form of hepatitis. Several viruses can cause such liver inflammation. Each virus can be contracted in a different way and gives different complaints.
The term hepatitis is derived from the Greek word for liver, ‘hepar’. The suffix itis means inflammation. Hepatitis is thus an inflammation of the liver. Such an inflammation causes your liver to work less well. The cause is often a virus, but you can also get hepatitis as a result of drinking a lot of alcohol for a long time, an autoimmune disease or taking medication.
Viral hepatitis
Hepatitis caused by a virus is called viral hepatitis. There are six different viruses known that can lead to liver inflammation. They all have a different letter of the alphabet. The hepatitis A virus gives hepatitis A, the hepatitis B virus gives hepatitis B, and so on.
All hepatitis viruses are contagious, but the way in which you can become infected differs per virus. The symptoms and severity of the complaints are also different for each variant. A, B and C are the most common.
Hepatitis A especially in children
The hepatitis A virus is found in the feces of infected people. If it gets in your mouth, you get it too. This can happen through contaminated water, food, objects such as a tap or the toilet seat, sexual contact, but also if you care for someone with hepatitis A. The chance of contamination is greater if hygiene leaves something to be desired.
In the Netherlands, hepatitis A mainly occurs in children. It is not such a serious form of hepatitis, young children often do not notice it. Older children and adults sometimes experience fatigue, nausea, fever, upper abdominal pain and jaundice. Your skin and the whites of your eyes turn yellow, the urine dark and the stools lighter. There are no medicines for hepatitis A, but it usually goes away on its own. Once you’ve had it, you’ll be immune to the hepatitis A virus from now on. If you are going on a trip to a country where hepatitis A is common, it is wise to get vaccinated against it.
Hepatitis B: vaccination possible
The hepatitis B virus is found in the blood, semen, pre-cum and vaginal fluids of infected people. If this comes into contact with a wound or the mucous membranes of your mouth, nose, eyes, anus or genitals, you can get hepatitis B. A small amount of contaminated blood in a wound is enough to cause an infection. For example, a baby can contract hepatitis B during delivery. Transmission can also take place via, for example, an infected needle, razor blade, toothbrush and unsafe sex.
Some patients do not notice any symptoms of hepatitis B. When symptoms appear, they resemble those of hepatitis A: fatigue, a feeling of flu, loss of appetite, jaundice, sometimes itching. The disease can also become more serious. It goes away on its own in 90 to 95 percent of adults. The remaining 5 to 10 percent develop a chronic infection. An active chronic infection can damage your liver.
A vaccine against hepatitis B is available. Vaccination is recommended if you go to an area where hepatitis B is common, but also if you come into contact with blood through your work.
Hepatitis C often chronic
You can only get this hepatitis virus if contaminated blood gets into your blood. Such as via a contaminated needle, contaminated toothbrush in combination with bleeding gums, razor or a blood transfusion. Donated blood is checked for hepatitis C in the Netherlands and many other western countries. Contamination through sex is normally impossible, but very occasionally it does happen when injuries occur. This risk especially applies to HIV patients.
It can take years before hepatitis C causes symptoms. In the acute phase, some patients develop abdominal pain, have less food to eat or are nauseous. About one in ten will develop jaundice. Most have no symptoms or are just tired. In about 80 percent of cases, hepatitis C becomes chronic, which can lead to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Treatment with drugs may then be necessary.
D alone together with B
You can only get hepatitis D if you also have hepatitis B, it does not occur separately. The infection can occur at the same time as the infection with the hepatitis B virus. You can also become infected with hepatitis D if you already have the B variant. It is transmitted in the same way as the hepatitis B virus, namely through blood contact and unprotected sex.
E, F, G
You can become infected with hepatitis E through the stool-mouth route, which includes drinking water contaminated with feces and contact with infected animals. The symptoms resemble those of Hepatitis A, but often this virus does not cause any symptoms. Healthy people often don’t notice that they have it. Hepatitis E usually goes away after a few weeks and cannot become chronic.
When researchers thought they had discovered a new hepatitis virus, they reserved the F for it. Whether hepatitis F really is a separate disease and how you would become infected is not yet clear. Little is known about hepatitis G either. There are probably many carriers of this virus, but scientists do not know whether it also makes you sick.
