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What is the difference between Hepatitis A, B and C? What are the symptoms? How do you get tested for hepatitis?
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Hello Kelly,
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver and also refers to a group of viral infections that affect the liver . The most common types are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.
Hepatitis A, caused the Hepatitis A virus , is a highly contagious viral infection. It is contracted by eating contaminated food or from close contact with someone who is already infected.
Symptoms include:
Fatigue
Nausea and vomiting
Abdominal pain or discomfort, especially in the area of your liver on your right side beneath your lower ribs
Loss of appetite
Low-grade fever
Dark urine
Muscle pain
Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
Signs and symptoms of hepatitis A usually last less than two months, but may last as long as six months. Not everyone with hepatitis A develops signs or symptoms.
Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus . Sometimes, hepatitis B infection becomes chronic, leading to liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis which causes permanent scarring of the liver. The virus is passed from person to person through blood, semen or other body fluids.
Symptoms include:
Abdominal pain
Dark urine
Fever
Joint pain
Loss of appetite
Nausea and vomiting
Weakness and fatigue
Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness that attacks the liver. It results from infection with the Hepatitis C virus, which is spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person. Hepatitis C can be either acute or chronic.
Symptoms include:
Fever
Fatigue
Loss of appetite
Nausea
Vomiting
Abdominal pain
Dark urine
Clay-colored bowel movements
Joint pain
Jaundice (yellow color in the skin or eyes)
Blood tests diagnose hepatitis.
I hope this information answers your questions.
July 29, 2014 - 5:16pmMaryann
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