Hepatitis B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hepatitis B - Essay Example In this paper, the focus will be on Hepatitis B (HB) as it has been responsible for 600,000 worldwide deaths annually (Wasley et al, 2010). Like many other diseases, hepatitis B has its cause though this information is often known first by the health practitioners than the patients. As for this disease, a virus called hepatitis B virus, often abbreviated as HBV, causes it. Concerning its transmission methods, HB occurs whenever semen, blood or any other body fluid enters a non-infected person from a patient (CDC, 2015). That is to say, one could contact HB if there is a sharing of injecting equipment such as needles or syringes; sexual relations as well as while giving birth. It is worth noting that HB has two categories: acute and chronic infection. Acute infection refers to the first time a person realizes to be infected with HB. Often, this stage characterized by mild symptoms and only a few cases of serious illness. In fact, many people, especially adults, tend to recover from this illness with little intervention. Sadly, this is not the case with infants, and many could die even at this stage. If the acute infection is ignore or not treated for at least six months, the inevitable chronic infection materializes. Regardless of the stage, a person suffering from HB will exhibit various signs and symptoms including dark urine, joint fever, abdominal pain, appetite-loss and nausea or vomiting. In addition, a patient has jaundice and their bowel movement is clay-colored. Unfortunately, patients of chronic HB could be asymptomatic, lack clear liver-disease evidence and suffer from cirrhosis or another kind of liver-cancer called the hepatocellular carcinoma (CDC, 2015). Thus, it is imperative to ensure that once the signs are observed in the acute stage, treatment is sought quickly to avert the more deadly consequences in the chronic stage. Though early