Anthropology and Medicine

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Hepatitis

Introduction

Hepatitis is a broad term and is defined as the inflammation of the liver tissue . This inflammation can be as a result of several causes such as alcohol , viruses , immune diss , toxins , poisonous compounds and some drugs . Viruses that cause hepatitis are classified into five main groups namely A , B , C , D and E . The most common types are hepatitis A , B and C (Daniel Para 1

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A virus causes an acute serious disease of the

liver . People with Hepatitis A usually excrete the virus in the feces . It is spread in several ways namely personal contact with the infected person ingestion of HAV contaminated food or drinks and sexual contact with infected persons . The incubation of the virus following infection varies from 15 to around 50 days with an average of one month (World Health Organization 4

Its transmission is via the oral route due to ingestion of fecal contaminated food or water . It also occurs in crowded areas where sanitation is not properly checked in a proper manner . These conditions lead to an increase in incidence of the disease due to constant contamination from feces . The virus replicates in hepatic cells leading to compromised functions of these cells or cell death . The virus can stay in the environment for a long time and is constantly and abundantly excreted in the feces of the infected (World Health Organization 5

Acute hepatitis A occurs in four different forms namely preclinical...