Hepatitis A-Signs,Prevention And Treatment.
Hepatitis A is an acute virus infection that harms the liver. There is usually fever, with marked loss of the appetite at the onset. As the fever goes down, jaundice appears and the eyes turn yellow.
The disease is usually mild in small children and more serious in older persons. It is especially serious in women during pregnancy, and may even be fatal. Some people call all diseases that make the eyes yellow, ‘yellow fever’. That name should be kept for one form of hepatitis which comes in epidemics and causes many deaths.
NOTE : Not all people with yellow eyes have true yellow fever.
HEPATITIS SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
- The person will not want to eat or smoke. The person often goes days without eating anything.
- Sometimes there is pain on the right side near the liver or the lower ribs.
- The person may have general body itching.
- The person may have fever.
- After a few days, the eyes will turn yellow.
- Sight or smell of food may cause vomiting.
- The urine turns dark yellow. Sometimes the stools become whitish.
In general, the person will be very sick for 2 weeks and remains very weak for 1 to 3 months after.
HEPATITIS A PREVENTION
- The hepatitis virus passes from the stool of one person to the mouth of another by way of contaminated water or food. To prevent others from getting sick, it is very important to bury or burn the sick person’s stool or let the sick person make use of the toilet and flush or clean after use.
- The sick person should be kept very clean, and the person providing care should always wash his or her hands well after each time he or she goes near the sick person.
- Small children often have hepatitis without any signs of sickness, but they can spread the disease to others.
- It is very important that everyone in the house should follow all the guidelines of cleanliness with great care.
- For at least 3 weeks after the signs of hepatitis go away, take steps to avoid passing it on to others. Use separate dishes for eating and do not handle food. Avoid sex even with a condom.
HEPATITIS TREATMENT
- Antibiotics do not work against hepatitis. In fact some medicines will cause added damage to the sick liver. Do not use medicines.
- The sick person should rest and drink a lot of liquids. If he or she refuses most food, give the person orange juice, papaya and other fruits including broth with chicken or other protein foods.
- Make sure you control vomiting.
- When the sick person can eat, give a balance of energy foods and protein. Beans, meat, chicken and boiled eggs are good. Avoid lard and fatty foods. Do not drink any alcohol for a long time afterward.
