Inside of Hepatitis B

Not many people know, that viral hepatitis could be more dangerous than the HIV virus.

Because the hepatitis B virus can infect 50 to 100 times greater than HIV. Of the 7 types of viral hepatitis, namely hepatitis A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, viral hepatitis B and C are the most dangerous type of virus, because it can develop into liver cancer.

Hepatitis B is a contagious infection that attacks the liver (liver) caused by HBV virus. This virus can only be transmitted through blood contact or other bodily fluids with an infected person, such as blood transfusion, sharing needles for injecting drug users in particular, sexual contacts, use the same eating utensils with an infected person, childbirth and pregnancy than mothers infected, and so forth.

Instead, the virus can not spread through touching or casual contact, and does not spread from contaminated food or beverages.

Symptoms. If our bodies are infected with HBV, there are several symptoms that mark, namely:

* The color of the skin becomes yellow (jaundice / jaundice)
* The color of urine becomes darker
* Easily tired or feel tired often extreme
* Nausea
* Vomiting
* Pain in the abdomen.

It took many months, even a year to get rid of the symptoms. And if not immediately addressed, HBV can cause chronic liver infection, which then can develop into liver cirrhosis or liver cancer. If already at the stage of cirrhosis, can cause death in sufferers.

The danger to children. When is hepatitis B virus infection becomes chronic depends on what age a person is infected. If a person is infected when a childhood, it will more than likely that the infection developed into a more chronic infection.

About 90 percent of infants infected with this virus in the first year, will develop into chronic infection. While in children infected between the ages of one to four years, approximately 30 to 50 percent will develop chronic infection. And about 25 percent of adults died of liver cancer, where he was infected with HBV since childhood. However, about 90 percent of healthy adults newly infected with hepatitis B virus can be recovered and could disappear within six months.

Immunizations are important! That is why, why immunization hepatitis B vaccine is necessary since childhood, to avoid children exposed to hepatitis B virus And vaccination should be given three to four doses, according to the routine immunization schedule.

If the hepatitis vaccine series is given in full, then about 95 percent of antibodies in infants, children, and young adults, to protect against hepatitis B virus. After age 40, protection of the vaccine drops to about 90 percent.

Is there a cure? Now people with hepatitis B was able to breathe a little sigh of relief. Drugs to treat this disease has been found. There are four types of drugs that can be used, namely lamivudine, adefovir, entecavir, or peginterferon alfa-2a, which can be consumed with how swallowed (oral) or injection.

However, the use of these drugs are still too there are shortcomings. In addition to possible side effects, drug use with hepatitis B should be done routinely and not be broken until the patient recovered. If not, then the body will be immune to the drug, and resistant. In addition, drug prices were still tend to be expensive in Indonesia. The price could be around Rp. 2 million for a drink / injection.