hepatic and biliary disorders
Overview of Acute Viral Hepatitis
Prevention of Acute Viral Hepatitis
Because treatments have limited efficacy, prevention of viral hepatitis is very important. Good personal hygiene helps prevent transmission, particularly fecal-oral transmission, as occurs with HAV and HEV. Blood and other body fluids (eg, saliva, semen) of patients with acute HBV and HCV infection and stool of patients with HAV infection are considered infectious. Barrier protection is recommended, but isolation of patients does little to prevent spread of HAV and is of no value in HBV or HCV infection. Posttransfusion infection is minimized by avoiding unnecessary transfusions and by screening all donors for hepatitis B and C. Screening has decreased the incidence of posttransfusion hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which are now extremely rare in the US. Immunoprophylaxis can involve active immunization using vaccines and passive immunization. Vaccines for hepatitis A and hepatitis B are available in the US. Routine vaccination for hepatitis A and B is recommended in the US for all children and for adults at high risk (seeAdult Immunization Schedule). A vaccine for hepatitis E is not available in the US but is available in China. Standard immune globulin prevents or decreases the severity of HAV infection and should be given to nonimmune family members and close contacts of patients.Hepatitis B immune globulin(HBIG) probably does not prevent infection but prevents or attenuates clinical illness. No product exists for immunoprophylaxis of HCV or HDV. However, prevention of HBV infection prevents HDV infection. The propensity of HCV for changing its genome hampers vaccine development. 