Hepatitis Symptoms

Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, human papillomavirus infection, genital herpes and hepatitis A and B are the significant non-HIV STDs in terms of morbidity, mortality and cost. HIV will not be discussed here-except to note that having any other STD raises the risk for it and that it added another $7 billion to that 1995 tally.

The symptoms of HBV infection are not always easily detected. About 30 percent of infected people do not report any symptoms. The people who do not show symptoms are called carriers, because they carry the disease and can transmit it, but have no obvious warning signs of the infection. Some people live their whole lives without knowing they are infected. In people who do experience symptoms, the most common are nausea, fever, vomiting, and stomach or other pain. Some people suffer from extreme fatigue and appetite loss. In severe cases, the disease can cause liver failure and lead to jaundice, a buildup of toxins in the blood, leading to yellowish skin and eyes or even death.

There is no way to cure an HBV infection, but it can be relatively easy to prevent one. There is a widely available vaccine that can prevent an individual from being infected. The vaccine does not use heat-killed or weakened viral particles like previous vaccines did, so there is no risk of infection from the vaccine. It is very safe and can protect a person for life from the virus.