In daily life, many friends are often faced with the situation of talking about "liver" discoloration. In fact, many hepatitis diseases such as alcoholic hepatitis and steatohepatitis are not contagious.
For infectious viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis B, people may often be "surrounded" by various misunderstandings in daily life, such as "hepatitis B is an incurable disease", "you can't have children if you have hepatitis B", "you will be infected if you shake hands with liver friends and come into contact with them", etc. Therefore, Yangshengjun will talk about those things about "hepatitis B" this time.
Image source: Zhihu @ Quanke Yuan
✎ What is hepatitis B?
"Hepatitis B" is a common name for hepatitis B, which is an infectious disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and mainly manifested by liver inflammation. Clinical manifestations include liver discomfort, loss of appetite, fatigue, jaundice, etc. If influenza A and B viruses "like" the respiratory tract, this type B virus "loves" the liver, which is a hepatophilic DNA disease.
According to relevant data, the prevalence of HBsAg in the general population in mainland China was 6.1% in 2016, and the number of chronic HBV infections was 86 million. In the face of such a large number of people, it is inevitable that there will be many misunderstandings in daily life. But is hepatitis B really that scary? Actually, no, let's explain the various misunderstandings one by one.
Myth (1)
In daily life, people who come into contact with hepatitis B, such as eating, shaking hands, and hugging, can be infected with hepatitis B.
✔ Correct understanding
There is no doubt that everyday contact such as eating together, shaking hands, and hugging will not be transmitted to hepatitis B. Because HBV is not transmitted through the respiratory and digestive tracts, the main routes of infection are blood-borne transmission, mother-to-child transmission, and sexual contact.
No contact without blood exposure can transmit HBV. Therefore, there is no need to worry and be anxious, and hepatitis B patients should not be discriminated against.
Of course, if there is a hepatitis B patient in the family, the whole family still needs to get vaccinated against hepatitis B as soon as possible, get vaccinated against hepatitis B, and get vaccinated against hepatitis B!! Say the important thing three times!
Image Credit: Lightning News @ Comprehensive Broadcasting
*If it involves pedicure, dental care, ear piercing, etc., it is recommended to go to a professional and standardized place. Because if there happens to be a skin or mucosal wound on the body, and the wound comes into contact with the blood of an infected person, it is possible to become infected, although the probability of this happening is very low.
Myth (2)
Mother-to-child transmission is still the main way of transmission of hepatitis B in mainland China, so can I still have a baby if I have hepatitis B?
✔ Correct understanding
First of all, we need to be clear that hepatitis B is a contagious disease, not a genetic disease, not a genetic disease, not a genetic disease!! Say the important thing three times. Hepatitis B is not a reason to stop you from becoming a mother!!
Through standardized prevention and control, the chain of vertical transmission from mother to child can be effectively broken. For patients who have been infected with hepatitis B virus, they can go to the hepatology/infectious diseases/obstetrics and gynecology departments of regular hospitals for consultation before trying to get pregnant, and complete relevant examinations so that doctors can evaluate their conditions. In addition, if the baby has undergone prompt and formal blocking intervention, breastfeeding can be carried out (under the evaluation of a specialist).
Myth (3)
Hepatitis B is an incurable disease.
✔ Correct understanding
Hepatitis B is not an incurable disease, but a preventable and controllable disease.
Although there is no specific cure for hepatitis B on the market, there are drugs that inhibit viral replication and delay disease progression: interferons and nucleos(t)ide analogues.
With the reasonable and regular use of drug treatment, some patients can even achieve clinical cure - surface antigen to negative and surface antibody to positive. Just like antihypertensive drugs and hypoglycemic drugs, almost all anti-hepatitis B virus drugs only need to be taken once a day to be effective.
Image source: Yunnan HIV/AIDS prevention
*At present, most hepatitis B drugs are covered by medical insurance, and the price is very cheap, and the financial burden of long-term use is greatly reduced compared with before. However, once you take antiviral drugs, you must not stop them without authorization, otherwise it will easily lead to a rebound and aggravation of the disease.
Myth (4)
People with hepatitis B do not need to see a doctor or treatment if their liver function is normal.
✔ Correct understanding
Whether to initiate antiviral therapy for hepatitis B cannot be evaluated only by the normal liver function of one episode, but must be comprehensively evaluated based on serum HBV-DNA and factors such as age, family history, and concomitant diseases.
As the saying goes, the liver is dumb and the stomach is lama. Liver disease is silent, and attacks are horrible. Due to the small number of nerves distributed in the liver, when the liver is diseased, it often cannot reflect the pain in time, and if you feel liver pain, it is often at an advanced stage.
Image source: Baidu @ Dr. Fan Liuhu of the Oncology Department
Therefore, if the hepatitis B virus infection has normal liver function, if the disease is "ignored", there is a certain risk if you do not regularly see a doctor and review the liver-related indicators. It is suggested that hepatitis B virus carriers should regularly review blood routine, liver function, hepatitis B virus quantification, abdominal color ultrasound, etc. at least every 6 months to 1 year.
Myth (5)
Liver function is abnormal, and antiviral therapy is required immediately.
✔ Correct understanding
For patients with abnormal liver function, don't be overly anxious in the first place. Because abnormal liver function is interfered with by many factors, such as staying up late, drinking alcohol, and taking drugs, transient liver function abnormalities sometimes do not require initiation of antiviral therapy.
Dynamic assessment is more clinically significant than a single test.
Patients with chronic HBV infection who are positive for serum HBV DNA should be considered for initiation of antiviral therapy if their aminotransferases are persistently abnormal (>ULN) and elevated aminotransferases due to other causes have been excluded. Therefore, when there is abnormal liver function, we must pay attention to it, seek advice from a specialist in time, and treat antiviral therapy if necessary, but do not blindly use drugs.
Image source: Shenzhen Health Commission
Hepatitis B is not terrible, what is terrible is that you don't understand hepatitis B, which leads to failure to treat it properly, and I hope that through the efforts of Yangshengjun, everyone can have a more comprehensive and clear understanding of "hepatitis B". No more "talking about hepatitis B".
Bibliography:
[1] Wang Guiqiang, Wang Fusheng, Zhuang Hui, et al. Guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B (2019 edition)[J].Chinese Journal of Experimental and Clinical Infectious Diseases(Electronic Edition),2019,13(06):441-466.)
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