Your Private GP and Sexual Health Clinic in Canary Wharf
These sexually transmitted viruses can cause liver damage
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
- For those who do not clear the virus develop a chronic infection
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