Do you know the difference between Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E viruses?

The article is professionally consulted by Master. BSCK II Phan Thi Minh Huong - Gastroenterologist - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Da Nang International General Hospital.

Hepatitis is a common disease in Vietnam, but there are many causes of hepatitis, including viral hepatitis. Common viruses include hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses. What is the difference between viral hepatitis, find out in the article below.

Hepatitis A is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is transmitted from person to person by fecal-oral route, very rarely by blood. Hepatitis A can occur sporadically or become epidemic. The disease can be completely cured, after being cured, the patient has a long-lasting specific immunity.
Manifestations of illness: the disease often occurs suddenly, low-grade fever, very tired, loss of appetite, nausea, bloating, very little yellow urine. After 7-10 days, yellowing of the skin and eyes will appear, when the jaundice begins, the fever will disappear. After 4-6 weeks, the disease gradually subsided, increased urination, jaundice, and yellow eyes disappeared, but it took 1-2 months for the patient to recover completely.
According to the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health, to prevent hepatitis A virus, it is necessary to:
Propaganda and raise people's awareness Hepatitis A vaccination Keep the environment and personal hygiene , food hygiene Those who come into direct contact with patients need to comply with anti-infection work.

Hepatitis B is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV is transmitted from person to person through contact with blood and blood products, bodily fluids, sexual contact, and can be passed from mother to child. 85 - 90%, adults with the disease have an acute course, 10% develop a chronic form (40% of patients with chronic form later have a risk of cirrhosis, primary liver cancer). Particularly for young children infected from their mothers, 90% will be chronic.
Manifestations when sick: patients show mild fever, loss of appetite, bloating, digestive disorders. After 7-10 days, the fever disappears and jaundice appears. The course of the disease lasts about 4-6 weeks. However, in some cases, the disease is in the fulminant form, coma and death in > 95% of cases.
According to the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health, in order to prevent hepatitis B virus disease, it is necessary to:
Propaganda and improve knowledge about the disease Hepatitis B vaccination, especially infants and the target audience. high risk Practice safe blood transfusion Sex health education, safe sex Do not inject drugs Counseling pregnant women infected with HBV.

Hepatitis C virus disease is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is transmitted from person to person through contact with blood, blood products, sexual contact, and from mother to child. 40-60% of patients with hepatitis C will develop chronic form, at risk of developing cirrhosis and primary liver cancer in the future.
Manifestations of the disease: often the disease occurs silently, anorexia, bloating, nausea. However, only about 25% of cases have clinical manifestations.
According to the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health, to prevent hepatitis C virus disease, it is necessary to:
Propaganda and improve knowledge about the disease Implement safe blood transfusion, focusing on the group of patients who need a lot of blood transfusion times Sex health education, safe sex Do not inject drugs There is no vaccine against hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis D is caused by the hepatitis D virus (HDV). HDV is transmitted from person to person through contact with blood, blood products, and through sexual contact. However, HDV is always co-infected with HBV or superinfected in patients with HBsAg (+)
Manifestations of the disease: because HDV is co-infected or superinfected in patients with HBsAg (+), the disease is often sudden with symptoms Like hepatitis B virus, it can go away on its own, but there are a few cases where the disease becomes very severe (if co-infected with hepatitis B virus) or becomes chronic hepatitis.
According to the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health, to prevent hepatitis D virus disease, it is necessary to take the same measures as for hepatitis B virus.

Hepatitis E virus disease is caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV). HEV is transmitted from person to person by the fecal-oral route and through contaminated water. Hepatitis E virus can appear sporadically or as an epidemic. Manifestations of the disease: The disease manifests clinically as hepatitis A virus, does not become chronic, but is very dangerous in pregnant women.
According to the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health, to prevent hepatitis E virus disease, it is necessary to take measures:
Health propaganda and education Keeping the environment, personal hygiene, and eating hygiene Management of sick people and people who come into direct contact with patients When showing symptoms of illness, patients should immediately go to medical facilities for examination and treatment. At Vinmec, we always provide customers with vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and hepatitis B as well as provide a regimen to make the treatment effective, fast and safe.