Your Private GP and Sexual Health Clinic in Canary Wharf

These sexually transmitted viruses can cause liver damage

Dr Wayne Cottrell:

HEPATITIS A-B-C

HEPATITIS A

  • Viral infection contracted from contaminated water or food
  • Can also be passed on through sexual contact such as rimming (oral-anal contact)
  • It causes inflammation of the liver resulting in an acute, debilitating illness that can last for several weeks
  • Once recovered there are usually no long-term effects
  • You developed lifelong immunity post infection
  • There is a Hepatitis A vaccine and we recommended for all men who have sex with men (MSM), travellers and workers in food preparation

SYMPTOMS

  • Incubation period 15- 45 days
  • Flu like illness, tiredness, joint pains, right upper abdominal pain, followed by jaundice, nausea and extreme fatigue
  • The symptoms can last up to 3 months and can be very debilitating
  • Most children, and about 50% of adults, will have no symptoms

HEPATITIS A-B-C

HEPATITIS B

  • A more serious viral infection can be sexually transmitted or through contact with bodily fluids and blood of an infected person
  • Can be passed from mother to newborn during delivery
  • Can cause chronic infection with liver scarring (fibrosis), cirrhosis, liver failure and sometimes liver cancer

SYMPTOMS

  • Usually asymptomatic (the silent disease)
  • Flu-like symptoms (fever fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea) is possible
  • The acute infection lasts less than six months and most people clear the acute infection spontaneously
  • Others will develop a chronic infection (diagnosed after 6 months)
  • The younger you are at the time of first exposure, the more likely you are to develop a chronic infection

HEPATITIS C

  • A viral blood borne disease, passed on through contact with infected blood
  • Can also be sexually transmitted, typically unprotected or traumatic sex (more common in MSM populations)
  • Causes either acute or chronic infection
  • Chronic infection leads to scarring (fibrosis) of the liver, cirrhosis, liver failure and or liver cancer

SYMPTOMS

  • None or very mild symptoms after initial infection
  • Some people will clear the acute infection spontaneously after a few months
  • Usually takes decades to develop the complications and effects of liver scarring
  • No immunity develops after infection, so it is possible to get reinfected with the same or a different strain
  • Those who do not clear the virus develop a chronic infection
Dr Wayne Cottrell will be back in the clinic from 18 October and the clinic will be open every weekday from that date

Canada Place Shopping Mall
34 North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5HX

0203 197 9100

Monday: 08:00-18:30
Tuesday: 08:00-18:30
Wednesday: 09:00-17:00
Thursday: 09:00-17:00
Friday: 09:00-17:00