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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Can Be The Reason For Hepatitis B?

All most all hepatitis B positives are incidentally detected. Their parents are negative. Their age varies from infancy to 75+ None is iv drug abuser, none received blood transfusion, not all develop cirrhosis of HCC, Many lead asymptomatic life with normal LFT throuout life, The source of the entry of antigen remains unknown. Their spouses and children are negative, hence needless to say they receive hep B vaccinn Do they(i. Hep +ve ones) need eradication of the antigen?
Mon, 22 Jun 2015
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello and welcome to HCM!
Your question it is very interesting! I will try to summarize briefly the answer: of all persons contacting hepatitis B virus, 80-85% of them get healed spontaneously (the body's immune system reacts properly and the infection is eradicated), in 10-15% of cases the infection becomes chronic (asymptomatic carriers, resulting positive for the HBsAg surface antigen) and of the later, around 5% might end in cirrhosis or liver cancer. The asymptomatic carriers do not benefit much from being vaccinated against hepatitis B. Their treatment with interferon only in some cases will cause total remission, but in most cases only will lower slightly the HBsAg titer. In other words, interferon taking does not guarantee results and is expensive. On the other hand, the major part of asymptomatic carriers do not develop signs and symptoms of the disease. In this context, since vaccine is of no use and interferon is expensive and does not guarantee good results (meaning eradication of the antigen is nearly impossible), then the best thing to apply a healthy lifestyle as to not trigger the infection to get "active", by avoiding for example extensive use of alcohol etc.
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What Can Be The Reason For Hepatitis B?

Hello and welcome to HCM! Your question it is very interesting! I will try to summarize briefly the answer: of all persons contacting hepatitis B virus, 80-85% of them get healed spontaneously (the body s immune system reacts properly and the infection is eradicated), in 10-15% of cases the infection becomes chronic (asymptomatic carriers, resulting positive for the HBsAg surface antigen) and of the later, around 5% might end in cirrhosis or liver cancer. The asymptomatic carriers do not benefit much from being vaccinated against hepatitis B. Their treatment with interferon only in some cases will cause total remission, but in most cases only will lower slightly the HBsAg titer. In other words, interferon taking does not guarantee results and is expensive. On the other hand, the major part of asymptomatic carriers do not develop signs and symptoms of the disease. In this context, since vaccine is of no use and interferon is expensive and does not guarantee good results (meaning eradication of the antigen is nearly impossible), then the best thing to apply a healthy lifestyle as to not trigger the infection to get active , by avoiding for example extensive use of alcohol etc. Hope this answer helped you!