Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver due to alcohol viruses, medicines, and problems related to the immune system as well as blood supply, particularly to the liver (Gallagher, 2005). The liver is a critical organ that carried a broad range of functions including regulation of blood clotting, storage of energy and removal of poisonous substances from the body.
There are various types of hepatitis that range from A to E. viruses are the common forms in which people transmit hepatitis whereby they enter the body through the gastrointestinal tract. People get viruses by eating contaminated foods and drinking liquids contaminated with virus particular from the waste of an infected person. Transmission of hepatitis A usually comes from regions that are high overcrowded such as correctional facilities, day care centers, sexual and anal contact and eating raw shellfish that come from sewage or contaminated water (Gallagher, 2005). Hepatitis A is similar to hepatitis E that are common in various parts of the world such US and Africa. Hepatitis B and C are as a result of viruses transmitted through infected blood, sex or seminal fluids. Usually, hepatitis D affects individuals who have contracted hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B and C are the most common causes of chronic diseases and their treatments are available. Hepatitis B is treatable by medications, usually oral or injected that inhibit the ability of the virus to multiply and replicate. Acute viral hepatitis doesnt require any treatment since the largest number of patients recovers from the disease on their own (Bernal & Wendon, 2013). However, it is advisable that patients seek medication whenever there are evident symptoms of the disease.
It is possible to prevent the transmission of hepatitis that only requires common sense precautions. All the five forms of hepatitis (A-E) result from the consumption of contaminated foods and drinks, living a healthy life can help prevent the occurrence of these diseases. People should not eat foods or drink exposed to the risks of transmitting the above diseases. Travelers should only consume bottled products and avoid eating from the street vendors.
The microbe is a general term used to describe a variety of life forms with dramatic characteristics and sizes. Microbes include viruses, bacteria, fungi, archaea, microscopic organisms, and protists. Viruses are the common causes of hepatitis. Other primary causes include the use of alcohol, toxins, autoimmune diseases, infections, certain medications and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (Bernal & Wendon 2013). They are classified as infectious, genetic, autoimmune, ischemic and metabolic amongst others. Viral hepatitis infections include type A, B, C, D and E. infectious agents include parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Metabolic causes of inflammation and liver injury include alcohol, drugs, and toxins. The genetic and autoimmune causes include genetic predispositions and mostly transmit particular groups of people.
Infectious hepatitis is caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Viruses are the primary cause of hepatitis as they are responsible for hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. hepatitis the fecal-oral route transmits A and E (Goldsmith, 2014). These kinds of hepatitis are self-limiting illnesses common in developing countries and never cause chronic hepatitis. The other three types of hepatitis; B, C, and D result when mucous membranes or blood get exposure to infected blood or other blood fluids such as vaginal secretions and semen.
Parasites are responsible for parasitic hepatitis as they infect livers and activate immune responses thereby revealing the signs of acute hepatitis with high volumes of serum. Some of the common parasites responsible for hepatitis include protozoans, malaria-causing Plasmodium, Leishmania species and Trypanosoma cruzi are responsible for the liver inflammation (Gallagher, 2005). Bacterial hepatitis is infections of the liver that cause pyogenic liver abscesses, granulomatous or liver diseases, and acute hepatitis. Pyogenic abscesses mainly include enteric bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli (Gallagher, 2005). Others bacterial causes include gram stain, shape, virulence factors.
Metabolic hepatitis includes alcoholic hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver and toxic and drug-induced hepatitis. The excessive consumption of alcohol is a risk of the transmission of hepatitis such as cirrhosis. Alcoholic hepatitis is one of the spectrums of alcoholic liver diseases. Transmission of this disease depends on the order of reversibility and severity from cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic steatosis and liver cancer. Non-alcoholic fatty liver is a kind of non-alcoholic hepatitis that ranges from reversibility and severity from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to liver cancer and cirrhosis. It is similar to the spectrum of alcoholic liver diseases.
Toxic and drug-induced hepatitis includes the kinds of hepatitis that arise chemical agents industrial toxins, medications, dietary and herbal supplements. The spectrum of this diseases ranges from chronic hepatitis to acute liver failure. Medications and toxins cause liver injury through ranges of processes such as disruption of cell metabolism, direct cell damage and cause structural changes. The autoimmune hepatitis is a form of the chronic disease by responses against the liver that are abnormal immune. This infection has a genetic predisposition because it relates to particular human leukocyte antigens responsible for the immune response. The presence of circulating of auto-antibodies is key in its diagnosis. Genetic hepatitis is a unique type of hepatitis caused by hemochromatosis and Wilson's disease.
References
Bernal W., & Wendon, J. (2013). Acute Liver Failure. New England Journal of Medicine.
Gallagher, A. (2005). Hepatitis. New York: Rosen Pub. Group.
Goldsmith, C. (2014). Hepatitis. Brookfield, Conn: Twenty-First Century Books.
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