Mercedes Brown
7th
December 2, 2012
Hepatitis B is a virus in the liver caused by contact with infected blood, semen, and other body fluids. Spread from person to person and is a blood borne virus. (Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Definition.") A virus is cell made of proteins and nucleic acids that replicates in living cells to infect the organism. This virus has caused many social issues, because a person cannot know for sure if they have Hepatitis B until they start showing symptoms. Symptoms do not start showing up until after three months after exposure. The last big outbreak of Hepatitis B in the United States was 2009. There were 3,375 out breaks of Acute Hepatitis B. But this is more of a social issue in less developed countries because their technology and scientific knowledge is not up to ours. Science ties in because it helps doctors and scientist make vaccines and other things to help cure the virus.
Hepatitis B is spread by contact with a person who is infected by body fluids like their blood and semen. A person can get it by sexual contact, sharing needles, and contact with an open cut, and mothers can infect their infant that is in whom. After three months a person will start showing symptoms which include; dark pee, yellowish eyes and skin, pain in joints and in liver, and the constant feeling of being tired. Prevention can be helped by screening all donated blood, organs, plasma, and semen. There is a vaccine for Hepatitis B to protect people from getting it. But there are also treatments if necessary after catching the virus. Treatments become necessary when someone who has Hepatitis B constantly throwing up and has diarrhea. Treatment mainly is restoring fluids and electrolytes to the body. Hepatitis B has two different time frames but it depends on if you have acute or chronic Hepatitis B. Acute Hepatitis B last for six months or shorter. Chronic Hepatitis B last for six months or longer and can cause long term effects to the body if chronic.
In the past the percent of being infected with Hepatitis B was very high. Today it is lower; the percent of being infectious is 18%. A person can get Hepatitis B and be fatal or not. The percent of Hepatitis B being fatal is 15%-25% people who have chronic hepatitis B can die from liver disease. This is one thing that Chronic Hepatitis B can lead to if it has gotten that serious. The percent of people who cannot fight this virus is slightly high; the perfect range is 5%-10%. People in less developed countries have a better chance of being highly more infectious. For example Africa is 8% infectious which is the highest percent of being infections of Hepatitis B. “Each year, approximately 5,000 people in the U.S. die of HBV-related liver failure and another 1,500 die from HBV-related liver cancer. HBV infection is the most
