The Pathophysiology of Hepatitis B Essay -- Health, Diseases

Introduction Hepatitis B, an infectious disease caused by the Hepatitis B computer virus (HBV, a DNA virus), was formerly called serum hepatitis, inoculation hepatitis and post-transfusion hepatitis. contagion with HBV may result in acute, fulminant or chronic hepatitis, sometimes even resulting in a chronic asymptomatic carrier state, apart(predicate) from hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis (Davis 179). The disease is transmitted when an individual comes in linkup with give blood or objects. It may also be transferred from an give mother to her infant either during or after birth (Zuckerman et al. 211). transmitting may also occur by accidental inoculation from infected needles and hospital equipment, intravenous drug abuse, body piercing, tattooing, and mouth-mouth kissing (Zuckerman et al. 210). The risk of Hepatitis B is particularly high in individuals with multiple sex partners, and in homosexuals. The HBV virus occurs in morphologically different forms in the se rum of infected individuals. HBV contagious disease has an incubation period of about 75 days. Systemic symptoms of the disease overwhelm fatigue, fever, dyspepsia, arthralgia, malaise, and rash, while local symptoms include hepatomegaly, jaundice, dark urine, and pale stools (Davis 179 Zuckerman et al. 210). Anatomical/physiologic/biochemical changes that lead to the disease Hepatitis B results from cellular injury to the liver, subsequently affecting its metabolic designs. However, the HBV is not cytopathic by itself. The pathogenesis of Hepatitis B occurs as a result of the interactions between the bonifaces immune system and the virus. The host immune system targets HBV in liver cells (hepatocytes), inadvertently causing ravish to the liver. HBV derived proteins (... ...BeAg), bilirubin level, and platelet count (Pyrsopoulos and Reddy). The disease prognosis can be make by calculating the prognostic index based on the status of these six variables.ConclusionHBV infectio n is complex and affects a with child(p) population worldwide. The discovery of the Australia antigen (HBsAg) in 1965 by Blumberg et al. (1965) set the stage for fast progress in understanding and counteracting the disease (qtd in Zuckerman et al. 210). Liver function tests help in estimating the extent of damage caused to the liver during HBV infection. Diagnosis is done by detecting viral specific antigens in the serum. Both quick and passive immunization options exist for disease prophylaxis. However, it is always best to course session caution over the parenteral, sexual and other routes of transmission of the disease for trenchant disease prevention and prophylaxis.