How is jaundice associated with hepatitis

Access your subscriptions. Free access to newly published articles. Purchase access. Rent article Rent this article from DeepDyve.

Access to free article PDF downloads. Save your search. Customize your interests. Hepatitis A can also pass from person to person during unprotected sex. Symptoms of hepatitis A include flu-like symptoms, such as fever, nausea, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. Hepatitis A may also cause jaundice, a condition that makes the skin and eyes look yellow and causes stool to become light in color and urine to become dark. Hepatitis A is a short-lived, or acute, disease.

When symptoms develop, they may cause severe illness requiring hospitalization and intravenous fluids. In most people, the body overcomes the virus on its own after a few weeks or months.

Occasionally, a person feels ill again a few months later and then gets better, usually for good after this second flare-up. To protect yourself from hepatitis A, doctors recommend vaccination before traveling to a country where hepatitis A is common and avoiding easily contaminated food items.

These include fresh vegetables or fruit unless it can be peeled , raw shellfish, tap water, and ice cubes. Hepatitis B is liver inflammation caused by the hepatitis B virus. People infected with the virus may or may not have symptoms but can still transmit the virus to others.

Symptoms include jaundice, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and muscle aches. The infection may be acute, meaning short lived, or chronic, which means it persists for a long time, even if symptoms never appear.

Hepatitis is considered chronic if it lasts longer than six months. In most people, the body fights the hepatitis B virus within a few months without any permanent liver damage. In some, though, hepatitis B becomes a long-term illness and can lead to liver damage or liver cancer.

Hepatitis B is spread through contact with bodily fluids, such as saliva, blood, and semen, or with a contaminated object, such as a toothbrush or razor, where the virus can live for days.

Certain factors increase the risk of infection. Hepatitis C is liver inflammation caused by the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C is contagious and can cause serious liver damage even if a person never has symptoms.

In: Cross SS, ed. Underwood's Pathology. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Updated by: Michael M. Editorial team. Jaundice causes. This may happen when: There are too many red blood cells dying or breaking down and going to the liver. The liver is overloaded or damaged.