...Epidemiology: Hepatitis B T Ob Grand Canyon University: NRS-427v January 19th, 2014 There are a large number of scientific discoveries that have come about serendipitously. Dr. Baruch Blumberg may say that this was the case when he discovered the Hepatitis B Virus. Dr. Blumberg and his colleagues discovered the Hepatitis B virus in 1967, developed the blood test that is used to diagnose the virus and in 1969, invented the first Hepatitis B vaccine. In 1976, Dr. Blumberg was honored with the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery (HepB Foundation, 2013) Hepatitis B is caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). A blood test called Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is used to find the presence of the virus in the blood. When serum comes back with a positive HBsAg result it is indicative of active HBV infection that can be passed on to others (Mast & Weinbaum, 2009). Determining immunity to HBV can be done by the Hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) blood test. Having antibodies can mean prior HBV infection from which the person has recovered or that the person has received the vaccine. A positive anti-HBs test also means that the person is protected by the vaccine or their natural immunity and cannot become infected or infect others. Determining whether a person has had or currently has an active HBV infection can be done by the Hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) blood test. A positive anti-HBc test indicates the person can have a chronic infection and is also infectious...
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...Page 2 Hepatitis B is a potentially life threatening liver infection caused by the virus HBV. A Hepatitis B infection could potentially become a chronic disease for some people because they run the risk of developing liver failure, cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer if precautions are not taken. Cirrhosis causes permanent scarring to the liver. Some adults that have become infected with Hepatitis B do fully recover even if their symptoms are relentless. Symptoms can be mild to more severe and can be very unpleasant. These symptoms typically appear one to four months after a person has been infected and this is when symptoms will begin. Symptoms include abdominal pain, fever, joint pain, dark urine, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, weakness and fatigue and jaundice. Because the Hepatitis B virus can survive for 7 days outside of the human body and thrive on surfaces, it most likely cause infection in a person that has not been vaccinated from the virus. Exposure to infected blood, saliva, vaginal and seminal fluids are ways for the Hepatitis B virus to be transmitted. What is scary is that this virus can also be transmitted during medical and surgical procedures, and dental procedures. Tattoo and piercing equipment that is not sterile is also another way the virus is transmitted. People that use illicit drugs and do them intravenously, share their needle, not only puts their risk of getting Hepatitis B extremely high, but can infect others...
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...Running head: EPIDEMIOLOGY PAPER - HEPATITIS B 1 Epidemiology Paper - Hepatitis B Concepts in Community and Public Health NRS-427V-0102 EPIDEMIOLOGY PAPER - HEPATITIS B Epidemiology Paper - Hepatitis B 2 ―Communicable disease‖ means an illness caused by an infectious agent or its toxins that occurs through the direct or indirect transmission of the infectious agent or its products from an infected individual or via an animal, vector or the inanimate environment to a susceptible animal or human host‖ ("CDC," 2010, p. 1). Hepatitis B is one of the communicable diseases which are a contagious liver disease that results from infection with the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). CAUSES ―Exposure may occur: After a needle stick or sharps injury - Hepatitis B is a concern for health care workers and anyone else who comes in contact with human blood If any blood or other body fluid touches your skin, eyes or mouth People who may be at risk of hepatitis B are those who: Unprotected sex with an infected partner – one may become infected having unprotected sexual contact with an infected partner whose blood, saliva, semen or vaginal secretions enter your body. Receive blood transfusions (not common in the United States) Have contact with blood at work (such as health care workers) Have been on long-term kidney dialysis Get a tattoo or acupuncture with unclean needles Share needles during drug use - HBV is easily transmitted through needles and syringes contaminated...
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...Hepatitis B is a global health problem, it is a liver infection that can cause serious complications and is potentially life threatening arising from the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). This paper will provide an overview of hepatitis B, including demographic information, determinants of health, the epidemiological triangle, the role of the community health nurse and a national organization that addresses the communicable disease. Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver caused by HBV; the infection can be classified as acute or chronic (Daniel, 2014). An individual with acute hepatitis infection may not exhibit symptoms and are unaware they may be carrying the HBV. During this time, individuals infected with the virus may pass the virus on to others, symptoms do not persist longer than two to three weeks, it is considered short term. Normal liver function returns in four to six months. Symptoms include loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, low-grade fever, tenderness to right upper quadrant, jaundice, fatigue, muscle and joint aches and pain (Daniel, 2014). Tests performed will be positive for the hepatitis B virus, which are HBsAg+, HBc-IgM and HBe-antigen. The HBV is transmitted when the virus enters the bloodstream through breaks in the skin, the mouth and genitalia areas. Examples include unprotected sex, exposure to needle sticks, skin punctures (skin piercing, tattoos, acupuncture) and sharing personal items that are contaminated (www.cdc.gov). Healthy adults with...
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...“Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver; it can be acute or chronic. Having chronic hepatitis B can increase your risk of developing liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis — a condition that causes permanent scarring of the liver”. (© 1998-2014 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved.) “In the United States, approximately 1.2 million people have chronic Hepatitis B. Unfortunately; many people do not know they are infected. The number of new cases of Hepatitis B has decreased more than 80% over the last 20 years. An estimated 40,000 people now become infected each year”.(http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/pdfs/hepbgeneralfactsheet.pdf) Many experts believe this decline is a result of widespread vaccination of children when the liver cannot remove harmful toxins from the blood, fight infection, also help digest food, store important nutrients and vitamins a person is not capable of living without a liver. Hepatitis B infection may be either short-lived (acute) or long lasting (chronic). Acute hepatitis B infection lasts less than six months. Your immune system likely can clear acute hepatitis B from your body, and you should recover completely within a few months. Most people who acquire hepatitis B as adults have an acute infection, but it can lead to chronic infection. Chronic hepatitis B infection lasts six months or longer. When your immune system can't fight off the acute infection, hepatitis B infection may last a lifetime, possibly...
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...http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=79911&site=ehost-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_3 T he global epidemic of hepatitis B and hepatitis C is a serious public-health problem. . All rights reserved. preventable death worldwide. Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are contagious liver diseases caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) reserved. Copyright © 2010. National Academies Press. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION TABLE 1-1 Key Characteristics of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Hepatitis B Hepatitis C Causative agent Partially double-stranded DNA virus Enveloped, positive-strand RNA virus Hepadnaviridae family Hepacavirus genus, Flaviviridae family Statistics In the United States, 0.8– 1.4 million people are chronically infected with HBV In the United States, 2.7– 3.9 million people are chronically infected with HCV Routes of transmission Contact with infectious blood, semen, and other body fluids, primarily through: • Birth to an infected mother • Sexual contact with an infected person • Sharing of contaminated needles, syringes, or other injection-drug equipment Less commonly through: • Contact with infectious blood through medical procedures Contact with blood of an infected person, primarily through: • Sharing of contaminated needles, syringes, or other injection-drug equipment • • Less commonly through: • Sexual contact with an infected person Birth to an infected mother Contact with...
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...Hepatitis B Virus: Epidemiological and Social Implications Amy Berry Grand Canyon University Concepts in Community and Public Health NRS-427V Sandra White August 21, 2015 Hepatitis B Virus: Epidemiological and Social Implications The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is an infection that attacks the liver and is categorized as both acute and chronic. The geographic prevalence between five and ten percent is predominantly in African and East Asian countries and only a one percent occurrence in the United States. The global incidence of HBV is approximately two billion people worldwide and of those, 350 million have chronic liver dysfunctionality resulting in an increased mortality risk related to cirrhosis and hepatic neoplasms ("The World Health Organization," 2015). According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in 2013, acute cases of HBV totaled 3,050 and 31,763 chronic cases were reported in the United States and a it is estimated that a total of 140,000 patients are infected every year that are not reported or unknown, and of those, an upwards of 1,000 people will die of chronic liver disease resulting from HBV ("CDC," 2013). The introduction of the HBV vaccine in 1982 and the inoculation of infants has dramatically lowered the frequency of infection, however, certain subgroups such as hemodialysis patients, health care professionals, intravenous (IV) drug users, organ transplantation recipients and homosexual males are at higher risk and should be periodically tested...
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...Hepatitis B Candace Tiley GCU RN-BSN Concepts in Community and Public Health NRS-427V Colleen Darrow September 12, 2013 Hepatitis B TRANSMISSION: Hepatitis B is a communicable disease that affects the liver via the hepatitis virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is the most common liver infection in the world. The virus is transmitted via blood and infected bodily fluids. This can occur through activities that involve percutaneous punctures through the skin, or mucosal contact with infectious blood or body fluids. Examples of ways that an individual could contract Hepatitis B might include: Sex with an infected partner; Birth to an infected mother; Coming in contact with the blood or sores of someone infected with Hepatitis B; (exposure to infected blood via a blood transfusion) Needle sticks with a dirty or contaminated needle or sharp instrument; Sharing items with an infected person such as toothbrushes or razors; RISK FACTORS: -Transfusion of unscreened blood; -Sexual promiscuity; - Sharing of or re-using of syringes between injection drug users; -Tattooing; -Working or residing in a health-care facility; -Living in a correctional facility; -Renal dialysis -long-term household or intimate non-sexual contact with and HBs Ab-positive individual. HBV is not spread through food or water, sharing common objects such as kitchen utensils, via hugging or kissing, casual contact or by being exposed to someone with HBV who may cough or sneeze. This virus can...
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...Hepatitis B Candace Tiley GCU RN-BSN Concepts in Community and Public Health NRS-427V Colleen Darrow September 12, 2013 Hepatitis B TRANSMISSION: Hepatitis B is a communicable disease that affects the liver via the hepatitis virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is the most common liver infection in the world. The virus is transmitted via blood and infected bodily fluids. This can occur through activities that involve percutaneous punctures through the skin, or mucosal contact with infectious blood or body fluids. Examples of ways that an individual could contract Hepatitis B might include: Sex with an infected partner; Birth to an infected mother; Coming in contact with the blood or sores of someone infected with Hepatitis B; (exposure to infected blood via a blood transfusion) Needle sticks with a dirty or contaminated needle or sharp instrument; Sharing items with an infected person such as toothbrushes or razors; RISK FACTORS: -Transfusion of unscreened blood; -Sexual promiscuity; - Sharing of or re-using of syringes between injection drug users; -Tattooing; -Working or residing in a health-care facility; -Living in a correctional facility; -Renal dialysis -long-term household or intimate non-sexual contact with and HBs Ab-positive individual. HBV is not spread through food or water, sharing common objects such as kitchen utensils, via hugging or kissing, casual contact or by being exposed to someone with HBV who may cough or sneeze. This virus can...
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...Epidemiology Hepatitis B affects 1 in 3 people worldwide (Hepatitis B Foundation [HBF], 2014). A vaccine has been available for over 30 years, yet it is the ninth leading cause of death worldwide (HBF, 2014). The epidemiology of hepatitis B, the role of the community health nurse along with the knowledge about what is being done to combat and reduce the impact of the virus gives a comprehensive look at hepatitis B. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a DNA virus, and belongs to the Hepadnaviridae family of viruses (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). The virus interferes with liver function and liver damage is caused from the inflammation from the body’s immune response. Jaundice is the classic symptom of liver disease. For correct diagnosis, a Hepatitis B blood panel is needed. Symptoms of the disease may include fever, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, joint pain, weakness, fatigue, dark urine, abdominal pain and jaundice. These symptoms can range in severity, with onset from one to four months after hepatitis B exposure (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Some patients do not experience symptoms; these patients have the potential to become chronic carriers and a source of transmission to others without being aware of it (WHO, 2014). Hepatitis B is transmitted from direct contact with infected blood, body fluids, and sexual intercourse. A break in the skin barrier must be present for blood to infect a person. Sharing of an infected needle is another source of infection....
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...MMWR Paper on Hepatitis B Microbiology 212-A April 27, 2012 Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a DNA virus that affects the liver and belongs to the Hepadnaviridae group (Takkenberg, Weegink, Zaaijer, & Reesink, 2010). According to an article in Vox Sanguines, an international journal of transfusion medicine, (Takkenberg, Weegink, Zaaijer, & Reesink, 2010) “about 400 million people worldwide are chronically infected with HBV, and 2 billion people have serological evidence of past or present HBV infection”. HBV, formerly known as serum hepatitis (Huether & McCance, 2008), has eight genotypes (A-H) with genotype D being associated with viral or acute hepatitis B and prevalent mainly in Europe, North Africa, and the United States (Takkenberg, Weegink, Zaaijer, & Reesink, 2010). The virus is about 40nm in diameter, partially double stranded and circular, and has an envelope which is host cell derived (The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina, 2011). HBV functions by entering into the nucleus of a hepatocyte and then is transcribed into viral RNA. It is then transported out to the cytosol where transcription occurs and new DNA strands are made that can form new viruses (Takkenberg, Weegink, Zaaijer, & Reesink, 2010). Hepatitis B virus needs to get past the first lines of defense and enter into the body with transmission primarily coming through exposure to blood or body fluids (Adams, Holland, Jr., & Urban, 2011). Main risk factors for...
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...Hepatitis B What is hepatitis B? Hepatitis means the inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis B, “formerly called serum hepatitis (Richard Adler)”, is caused by a serious liver infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the infection has two phases: acute and chronic (eMedicineHealth). Acute hepatitis B is short-term and occurs after being exposed to the virus and only few develop fulminant hepatitis which is very severe and life threatening. Chronic hepatitis can lead to “liver failure, liver cancer, or cirrhosis” (MayoClinic.com). Chronic hepatitis is long-term and an infection with HBV that lasts longer than 6 months and once it becomes chronic it may never go away (eMedicineHealth). Is hepatitis B infectious? Yes it is. “Hepatitis B is the most widespread of the hepatitis viruses, infects an estimated 300,000 people every year in the United States alone (Time Life Books)”. Can hepatitis B be treated or cured, and is there a vaccine? With acute hepatitis B there is no medication available to treat it. Doctors recommended rest, adequate nutrition, and fluids (CDC Division of Viral Hepatitis). Only few people are hospitalized due to acute hepatitis B and those who are, it is the result from the loss of fluids and electrolytes that then need to be restored. Most commonly acute hepatitis B will usually go away by itself (eMedicineHealth). Those with chronic Hepatitis B should seek care from a doctor, “they will need to be monitored regularly for signs of liver disease and elevated...
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...Hepatitis B- Benchmark Brandy Barlow Grand Canyon University: NRS-427V-O508 January 11, 2015 Hepatitis B- Benchmark Hepatitis B is a viral infection that targets the liver and is caused by the hepatitis B virus. It can cause both acute and chronic disease within the body. Hepatitis or Hep B is an infection of the liver that can be deadly. It causes inflammation of the liver and is a major health problem all over the globe. Chronic liver disease and chronic infections put people at higher risk of death from cirrhosis of the liver and or liver cancer. The majority of people with Hep B do not have any symptoms during the actual infection phase. There are those however, that experience jaundice (yellowing of the skin), dark colored urine, increased fatigue, nausea, with or without vomiting, and abdominal pain. Symptoms of hepatitis B may not show up for 6 months after the initial infection. Early onset of symptoms may include: loss of appetite, fatigue, low grade fever, muscle and joint pain. An infected person may have no symptoms, they may feel sick for a day up to weeks, or they may become very ill very quickly. This is called fulminant hepatitis. (Hepatitis B, 2013, pg. 1). Complications may arise in some people causing a chronic liver infection that can become cirrhosis or liver cancer. At least ninety percent of healthy adults that contract the Hepatitis B virus recover and are rid of it within six months. Hep B can be transmitted to others even if the infected...
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...HEPATITIS B August 25, 2014 The definition of hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver. The liver is the largest organ in the body and functions to digest food, store energy and remove toxins. Hepatitis is caused by a variety of factors such as toxins, certain drugs, heavy alcohol use and bacterial or viral infections. The three most common types of viral infections that affect the liver are Hepatitis A, B and C. (CDC). This paper will focus on hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is a highly contagious infection of the liver caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). Infection can be acute or chronic. Acute Hepatitis B is short term and occurs within the first 6 months after exposure. Chronic Hepatitis is long term and the virus remains in a person’s body. (CDC) Hepatitis B is spread through contact with an infected person’s blood, semen or body fluids via activities that involve skin puncture or mucosal tissue contact. Examples of such activities include sex, exposure to sharp objects, needle sticks, sharing razors, toothbrushes with an infected person, intravenous drug use etc. A mother can also pass the disease on to her child during delivery. (Caple) The average incubation period of the virus in adults is about 3 months, after which symptoms begin to appear and may last several weeks to months. Symptoms of acute hepatitis include jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, loss of appetite, dark urine and joint pain. Complications that...
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...Epidemiology of Hepatitis B Hepatitis B is a disease that affects many people worldwide and can cause serious and potentially fatal complications. This paper will provide an overview of this disease, including demographic information, while discussing contributing determinants of health, the implications of the epidemiological triangle as it relates to the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), the role of the community health nurse, as well as identify a national organization that addresses the disease and how it contributes to reducing the impact on society. Overview Hepatitis B is an infection caused by the Hepatitis B virus that multiplies in the liver, causing inflammation that can involve other organs of the body such as the kidneys and vasculature. Symptoms are varied and highly dependent on the severity of the illness and organ involvement. Roughly two thirds of cases are asymptomatic (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2011). The Communicable Disease Chain identifies the infected individual as the host or reservoir, whose portal of exit includes cuts, needles and mucus membranes. The mode of transmission is through direct contact with the portal of entry, which is identified as blood or bodily fluids of the infected individual, into the susceptible host, thereby creating a new reservoir to further spread the disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012). Once infected, the virus multiplies in the liver causing severe inflammation which may resolve naturally, in acute cases...
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