Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C affect the lives of over 4.6 million people in the United States, yet most cases go undiagnosed and untreated for years because many people do not experience any symptoms. Without treatment, these two “silent” viruses can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and more serious health problems, like liver cancer and even death.
\nSince most people may not even know they have Hepatitis, it is important to keep safe by being informed about the causes, prevention, symptoms and diagnosis procedures.
\nHepatitis B is usually spread when blood, semen, or another body fluid from an infected person enters the body of someone who is not infected. This can happen through sexual contact or sharing needles, syringes, or other equipment used to inject drugs. Hepatitis B can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby at birth.
\nMost people who become infected with Hepatitis C are exposed to the virus by sharing needles or other equipment used to inject drugs.
\nPrevention tips include:
\n\u00b7 Vaccination for Hepatitis B (a vaccine is not available for Hepatitis C).
\n\u00b7 Do not share razors, toothbrushes or other household articles.
\n\u00b7 Make sure all tattooing and body piercing are done using appropriate sterilized equipment by a licensed professional.
\n\u00b7 Never share needles or equipment for injecting drugs.
\n\u00b7 Use condoms when having sexual intercourse.
\n\u00b7 Get tested for Hepatitis during prenatal visits.
\nSymptoms include:
\n\u00b7 Flu-like symptoms
\n\u00b7 Fatigue
\n\u00b7 Nausea
\n\u00b7 Aching muscles and joints
\n\u00b7 Anxiety and depression
\n\u00b7 Poor concentration
\n\u00b7 Stomach ache
\n\u00b7 Loss of appetite
\n\u00b7 Dark urine\/bright stools
\n\u00b7 Jaundice (yellowing of skin)
\nHepatitis B and C can be diagnosed by one or more simple blood tests. If you think you may have been exposed to either of these silent viruses, contact the Mid-Michigan Health Department today at:
\nClinton County Branch Office: 989-227-3111
\nGratiot County Branch Office: 989-875-1019
\nFor more information, please visit www.cdc.gov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}