http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/immunize/documents/reporthepb.pdf Health care providers are legally required to report to local
health departments according to Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 246-101-101
within 3 working days.
The primary purpose of identifying and reporting HBsAg-positive pregnant
women during each pregnancy is to prevent the transmission of the hepatitis
B virus to their infants, who are at very high risk of acquiring the infection
and developing serious long-term sequelae unless postexposure prophylaxis
is given on time.
This new reporting requirement will increase identification of women with
hepatitis B in the prenatal period and help local public health departments
assure disease prevention for infants and family members.
4th Qtr 2001
http://www.snohd.org/hlthstats/epi
news/4th Qtr 2001.pdf The disease varies in clinical severity from asymptomatic to
a mild illness lasting only a week to a severely disabling illness lasting
several months.
In general, severity of illness increases with age and mortality may be
1% or more in adults over age 50.
Persons with chronic liver disease from other causes have an elevated
risk of death from fulminant hepatitis A infection.
Vaccines for hepatitis A were licensed in 1995.
Since that time, Snohomish Health District has provided over 12,500 immunizations
with hepatitis A vaccine.
ACIP states that providers conserve the vaccine supply by decreasing the
number of doses administered to healthy infants rather than leaving some
children in the high risk group completely unprotected.
hcopfaq
It is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that is found in
the blood of persons who have this disease.
Hepatitis C is not spread by hugging, casual contact, coughing, food or
water, sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses.
Even though a person is not experiencing symptoms, the disease could still
be causing damage to the liver.
Usually people with HCV are found because the liver enzymes in their blood
are above normal limits, and their doctors do more blood tests to find
the cause.
It is currently believed, however, that most people who get hepatitis
C will have HCV infection for a long time, and possibly for the rest of
their lives.
whi10119_fm
Six patients presented with clinical, biochemical and histological
evidence of severe hepatitis after taking herbal remedies.
Patient 1 was taking the herbal remedy for relief of symptoms of menopause,
Patient 5 as a "liver tonic", and Patient 6 to lose weight.
The identification of a herbal remedy as being responsible for hepatotoxicity
often depends on demonstrating a temporal relationship between consumption
of the product and development of the illness and improvement after discontinuation,
after excluding other causes of liver disease.
9. Ishak K, Baptisa A, Bianchi L, et al. Histological grading and staging
of chronic hepatitis.
29. Gordon WP, Forte AJ, McMurty RJ, et al. Hepatotoxicity and pulmonary
toxicity of pennyroyal oil and its constituent terpenes in the mouse.
hepatitis_en
Reports by the Chinese language media about possible implementation
of mandatory Hepatitis B testing for all immigrant applicants by the Federal
government have stirred considerable attention in the Chinese-Canadian
community.
Is it ethically defensible to disallow these people the opportunity to
live in Canada and participate as citizens of this country?
There are two potential concerns: (1) transmission to others, and (2)
cost to the health care system from possible future disease burden to
society.
Hepatitis B is a virus that can attack the liver, and is spread by blood-to-blood
transmission or through contact with infected body fluids.
Of the people who become infected by the virus, many people have no symptoms
and their immune system produces "antibodies" which work to
eliminate the virus from the body, but some may develop symptoms of acute
hepatitis (liver inflammation).
hepavax
Hepatitis A is a serious liver disease caused by the hepatitis
A virus (HAV).
I----A person who has hepatitis A can easily pass the disease to others
within the same household.
The vaccine series should be started at least one month before traveling.
Persons who live in communities that have prolonged outbreaks of hepatitis
A. Persons who live in communities with high rates of hepatitis A: for
example, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander communities
and some religious communities.
People who have ever had a serious allergic reaction to a previous dose
of hepatitis A vaccine should not get another dose.
Call a doctor, or get the person to a doctor right away.
Hepatitis_A_affects_the_liver
Hepatitis A is a viral disease that affects the liver.
This is because children under three years of age often don't show any
symptoms but can infect childcare workers or other children, especially
if care is not taken during nappy changing.
The first sign of an outbreak is usually when a parent or childcare worker
gets sick.
Hepatitis A immunisation is a good idea for people travelling to places
where the disease is common, or to places where hygiene standards are
poor.
Hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are caused by different viruses
so catching one doesn't offer immunity against the others.
Disclosure and hepatitis C
http://www.hepatitisc.org.au/information/Disclosure
and hepatitis C.pdf Telling someone you have hepatitis C When should I tell someone
that I have hepatitis C?
Generally speaking you don't have to tell anybody that you have hepatitis
C, except the Blood Bank.
If you are a healthcare worker involved in 'exposure prone procedures',
then you are obliged to inform your employer of your infection (ie. PCR
status).
HCV positive health care workers should refer to guidelines from their
state or territory health authority on the performance of exposure prone
procedures (see NSW Health circulars, 98/11 and 99/88).
If you have not told anyone yet, you may want to practice with a counsellor
or even in front of the mirror.
hcv_mgt
1. Baseline Hepatitis C EIA antibody run with additional blood
drawn for possible confirmatory test.
2. If initial Hepatitis C antibody test positive, send either a third
generation RIBA or a qualitative or quantitative Hepatitis C RNA PCR.
3. Baseline ALT not sent and no follow-up testing of Hep C in source patients.
2. A third generation RIBA test might be a less expensive way to provide
confirmation of true positive antibody, but would not help determine if
source patient has circulating virus, which is probably associated with
infectivity of the source.
1. In cases of new Hepatitis C infection, 6 weeks may be too early for
Hepatitis C antibody seroconversion, but Hepatitis C RNA PCR maybe elevated
as early as 2 weeks after exposure/infection and ALT is usually elevated
by 6 weeks.
V5N1
HCV is currently the most common cause of transfusion-related
hepatitis, and it accounts of viral hepatitis that are not hepatitis A
or B (non-A, non-B hepatitis).
Injury rates generally are higher for mid-size establishments employing
50 to 249 workers than for smaller or larger establishments, although
this pattern does not hold within certain industry divisions.
Left untreated, the infection multiplies and destroys the affected tissues,
leading to serious illness or death.
Frontiers of occupational health: New vaccines, new prophylactic regimens,
and management of the HIV-infected worker.
Ideally, in addition to reducing costs, the gatekeeper also improves quality
of care by streamlining the health care process, reducing unnecessary
or duplicative services, and providing preventive services.
merz Viral hepatitis
Viral hepatitis.pdf Prophylaxis against hepatitis A by gammaglobulin or vaccination
is indicated before travelling to high-risk countries.
If acute viral hepatitis is suspected, the following tests should be performed:
IgM antibodies against hepatitis A, HBsAg, IgM antibodies against hepatitis
B core antigen and hepatitis C antibodies.
(The presence of IgG antibodies is a sign of an earlier infection that
protects against the disease.)
for an adult or 0.02 - 0.04 mL/kg for a child prevents the disease.
Extrahepatic manifestations such as essential cryoglobulinaemia, glomerulonephritis,
autoimmune thyroiditis, Sjögren´s syndrome, and porphyria cutanea
tarda have been reported in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Treatment with interferon alpha may be considered.
