Hepatitis A, B, C, ... D? E?!

There is no end to the nasty virus inflicted illnesses it seems. I’ve already talked about cervical cancer, HIV and even herpes but there is still more!

Hepatitis can have several causes as the name only refers to the inflammation of the liver. There can be toxic (alcohol, medication), bacterial (salmonella) or viral reasons for hepatitis. For the sake of not writing a too extensive post, I will focus only on the viral hepatitis versions.

---

Hepatitis A
Not a chronic illness, no therapy but the body can heal itself, doesn’t cause tumors, vaccination available.

---

For a virus to be dangerous, it needs to be fully functioning, correct? Wrong. The pure RNA (genetic information) of the hepatitis A virus is enough to infect you. How? Through bad hygiene (not washing your hands) and food (usually raw).

Luckily, it’s harmless in about 99% of all cases. The other 1% are kind of fucked as the infection can lead to massive organ failure. But that’s only likely for older patients, patients with other bad infections or patients with a compromised immune system.

---

Hepatitis B
Can be chronic, therapy available, can cause tumors (about 80% of all liver carcinomas), vaccination available.

---

Hepatitis B is probably better known than A because it counts as an STD. Truth is, it can be transmitted during sex but also during birth, via blood and even saliva and breast milk! The worst thing? Many infected people don’t even notice they have it because the infection isn’t obvious. That way, it’s easy to infect a sexual partner.

1 million deaths each year are caused by hepatitis B and 5-7% of the worlds population is a chronic carrier of the virus. Just like the virus that causes cervical cancer it switches off the p53 gene that’s supposed to keep the cell from turning cancerous. _@suesa

What’s interesting is that the hepatitis B virus can be regarded as “virus.zip”. Its genetic information is only partly DNA, the rest is RNA which is only translated into DNA when the virus has entered the cell already.

---

Hepatitis Delta
Chronic infection, no therapy, makes existing problems worse, vaccination kind of available

---

This one gets only a really short paragraph as there is not much to say about it. Hepatitis Delta piggybacks the hepatitis B virus, without it the Delta virus can’t successfully infect the patient. It makes everything worse though. But if you’re vaccinated against hepatitis B, you’re save from this one too!

---

Hepatitis C
70% of infections are chronic, therapy available, can cause cancer, no vaccination available

---

Ever got a tattoo? A piercing? Acupuncture? Or do you plan to? You better hope whoever gave you that made sure their tools are sterile because those are ways you could contract hepatitis C. It’s not entirely clear how hepatitis C is transmitted but it’s clear that it can be “handed down” from parent to child and that infected needles are a huge problem. And if a hepatitis A infection is added to the pile, things become deadly.

---

Hepatitis E
Not chronic, no therapy, doesn’t cause cancer, no real vaccination available

---

The last hepatitis virus is particularly nasty as it has a high lethality for pregnant women, 20-30% die if they contract the hepatitis E virus in their last trimester. The virus can be contracted through food and, again, from people who carry it and don’t properly wash their hands.

Additionally to damaging the liver, hepatitis E also causes nausea, abdominal pain, aching joints, and itchiness.

---

So what are the consequences? What do I want you to learn from this post?

Practice safe sex, of course. Especially with partners you don’t know well enough to be certain they’re clean. But also, for god’s sake, wash your hands on a regular basis! Be careful when eating raw food, especially raw meat! And yes, smoked meat is still dangerous.

Your liver is supposed to keep your body clean, protect it. A new one is tricky to acquire.

---

Sources:

Lecture “Hepatitis” by Professor Friedrich Grässer

---

Picture taken from pixabay.com, sketches by me
Note: The "tumor" is here displayed on an arm. That's obviously false for liver cancer, it was just drawn this way for better visualization.

---

Got a scientific topic which you want to see as a story? Leave me a comment!
You want to support scientists on Steemit? You are a scientist on Steemit? Join the #steemSTEM channel on steemit.chat and connect with us!
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

_{Monster GIF by @saywha and @atopy}