Last Updated on February 24, 2021 by Stacy Sampson, DO
These briefs are intended to give readers (specifically those who weren’t aware many of these STIs/STDs existed) an overview of each STI/STD, their commonality, treatment options, and diagnostic tests available.
This information is by no means all-encompassing and The STI Project encourages using these briefs as primers and then further delving into the resources section when subsequent questions arise.
Hepatitis Symptoms, Test & Treatment
Common? Quite common – Around 300,000 to 700,000 people contract it in the U.S. annually – HBV (hep B) is most common, but HAV (hep A) and HCV can also be sexually transmitted
Symptoms Often there are no symptoms (1 in 2 adults with HBV have no symptoms) – extreme fatigue, tenderness and pain in the lower abdomen, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, pain in the joints, headache, fever, hives, dark urine, pale-colored bowel movements, jaundice
Cure? No cure – in most cases of HAV, it goes away by itself. In other cases, adults with HBV and 9 of 10 infants who get HBV at birth, are carriers and will have chronic HBV and remain contagious for life. Approx. 1.25 million carriers in the U.S. HCV can be treated, but not necessarily cured.
Bacterial/Viral/ Fungal/Parasitic Viral
Test Blood test
Life-Long? Maybe
Life-Threatening? Maybe – 1 out of 5 people with chronic HBV die from the infection. Others can develop severe liver disease including liver damage and liver cancer
- How to Not Give an Eff about Having an STI
- Think You Might Have an STI/STD?
- Hepatitis Information
- Detailed Hepatitis Symptoms
- Difference Between Hep A, B, & C
- Hepatitis Vaccines
- STI Interviews
- Living with Hep C
- Hep C Symptoms and Disease Progression
- Hep C Transmission Risk
References
- Symptoms
- Vestergaard, Hanne Thang, et al. “Transfusion transmission of hepatitis A virus with fecal shedding in a previously hepatitis A vaccinated recipient.” Journal of infection and chemotherapy 24.9 (2018): 766-768.
- Parsa Nahad, Mehdi, et al. “Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus Infection among Patients with Acute Hepatitis Symptoms in Ahvaz, Iran.” International Journal of Medical Laboratory 5.1 (2018): 11-18.
- Brietzke, Aline P., et al. “Neuroplastic effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on painful symptoms reduction in chronic hepatitis C: a phase II randomized, double blind, sham controlled trial.” Frontiers in neuroscience 9 (2016): 498.
- Evon, Donna M., et al. “Patient-reported symptoms during and after direct acting antiviral therapies for chronic hepatitis C: The PROP UP Study.” Journal of hepatology (2019).
- Kirstein, Martha M., Arndt Vogel, and Michael P. Manns. “Autoimmune Hepatitis.” Evidence‐based Gastroenterology and Hepatology 4e (2019): 592-601.
- Testing
- Easterbrook, Philippa, et al. “HIV and hepatitis testing: global progress, challenges, and future directions.” AIDS Rev 18.1 (2016): 3-14.
- Bottero, Julie, et al. “2014 French guidelines for hepatitis B and C screening: a combined targeted and mass testing strategy of chronic viruses namely HBV, HCV and HIV.” Liver International 36.10 (2016): 1442-1449.
- Coffie, Patrick A., et al. “Trends in hepatitis B virus testing practices and management in HIV clinics across sub-Saharan Africa.” BMC infectious diseases 17.1 (2017): 706.
- AASLD/IDSA HCV Guidance Panel, et al. “Hepatitis C guidance: AASLD‐IDSA recommendations for testing, managing, and treating adults infected with hepatitis C virus.” Hepatology 62.3 (2015): 932-954.
- Mezzo, Jennifer L., et al. “The Hepatitis Testing and Linkage-to-Care Data Review Process: An Approach to Ensuring the Quality of Program Data.” Public Health Reports 131.2_suppl (2016): 44-48.
- Treatment
- Terrault, Norah A., et al. “A ASLD guidelines for treatment of chronic hepatitis B.” Hepatology 63.1 (2016): 261-283.
- European Association for The Study of The Liver. “EASL recommendations on treatment of hepatitis C 2018.” Journal of hepatology 69.2 (2018): 461-511.
- Terrault, Norah A., et al. “Update on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic hepatitis B: AASLD 2018 hepatitis B guidance.” Hepatology 67.4 (2018): 1560-1599.
- Charlton, Michael, et al. “Sofosbuvir and ribavirin for treatment of compensated recurrent hepatitis C virus infection after liver transplantation.” Gastroenterology 148.1 (2015): 108-117.
- World Health Organization. Guidelines for the Prevention Care and Treatment of Persons with Chronic Hepatitis B Infection: Mar-15. World Health Organization, 2015.
- Prevention
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “HIV and viral hepatitis.” South Carolina State Documents Depository (2017).
- Zhang, Qian, et al. “Epidemiology of hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections and benefits of programs for hepatitis prevention in northeastern China: a cross-sectional study.” Clinical Infectious Diseases 62.3 (2015): 305-312.
- Tavitian, Suzanne, et al. “Ribavirin for chronic hepatitis prevention among patients with hematologic malignancies.” Emerging infectious diseases 21.8 (2015): 1466.
- Dahiya, Parveen, et al. ““Hepatitis”–Prevention and management in dental practice.” Journal of education and health promotion 4 (2015).
- He, Tianhua, et al. “Prevention of hepatitis C by screening and treatment in US prisons.” Annals of internal medicine 164.2 (2016): 84-92.
- Transmission
- Pan, Calvin Q., et al. “Tenofovir to prevent hepatitis B transmission in mothers with high viral load.” New England Journal of Medicine 374.24 (2016): 2324-2334.
- Doceul, Virginie, et al. “Zoonotic hepatitis E virus: Classification, animal reservoirs and transmission routes.” Viruses 8.10 (2016): 270.
- Jourdain, Gonzague, et al. “Tenofovir versus placebo to prevent perinatal transmission of hepatitis B.” New England Journal of Medicine 378.10 (2018): 911-923.
- Hofmeister, Megan G., Monique A. Foster, and Eyasu H. Teshale. “Epidemiology and transmission of hepatitis A virus and hepatitis E virus infections in the United States.” Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine 9.4 (2019): a033431.
- Dionne-Odom, Jodie, et al. “# 38: Hepatitis B in pregnancy screening, treatment, and prevention of vertical transmission.” American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 214.1 (2016): 6-14.
