Hepatitis B | Hepatitis Awareness Challenge

With an estimated 1.2 million new outbreak cases, hepatitis B certainly is a disease to watch out for and have knowledge of, both how it spreads, containment and how to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.
Thank you @ahsansharif once I saw this contest, I knew it was important and a discussion that needs to be had.

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Let's start off with " What is Hepatitis B, and how does it affect the liver?

Hepatitis B is an infection that is caused by the hepatitis B virus. It affects the liver and in extreme cases can cause cancer of the liver.
This is a high risk infection and can lead to death if not detected early, but let's not panic and rewind back a bit. If hepatitis B is a disease that affects the liver,

• WHAT EXACTLY IS THE LIVER AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT THAT IT IS PROTECTED???

The liver is one of our very vital organs that is located at the upper right side of our abdomen.... I know you just felt for it 😏.

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It is found just below your diaphragm and at the top of your stomach.
Your liver has the responsibility of filtering all the blood that goes through your stomach and intestine (pretty important) and then it creates the nutrients that the body needs.
It is also the control center for all the chemicals in your body. The ph acids, and all that. So imagine if your liver can no longer do any of these functions because it has been infected??? This is one out of the many reasons we need to protect our liver by gaining knowledge on hepatitis B and how we can protect our liver from it.

Now there are two types ( if I may so state) of hepatitis B. There's the ;

• Acute or new Hepatitis
  Which is not life threatening and lasts for less than six months if detected early. Most of the adults who have acute hepatitis recover from it. And then there's the other type

• Chronic or progressed Hepatitis:
  From the name you'd have guessed we're in for serious business. This type of hepatitis can lead to the damage of the liver cells, which in turn scars the liver and then can lead to liver cancer or failure. At this point it is life threatening and the person will need a liver transplant.

In most common cases, the mother transmits the virus to the child, an already infected partner can transmit it to their partner(s) during sex, and it can also be transmitted through unsterilized unsafe sharp objects.

Someone infected with acute or chronic hepatitis B may not show any symptoms, mostly children but generally, here are some symptoms to look out;

Fever,
pain to the abdomen(stomach area),
vomitting,
Their urine becomes dark,
Their eyes and skin begin to show yellowish colouring and this occurs within the first to the fourth month of having hepatitis B.

One of the reasons, chronic hepatitis is not good is because most people infected with it don't show any symptoms so they don't even know they have the disease until it has progressed and if symptoms even occur, it could be constant fatigue and in the most severe cases, liver damage or cancer of the liver.

But I bring good news here, and it is that Hepatitis B is not a death sentence. Most people diagnosed to be with Hepatitis B can live good and healthy lives as there are medications that can control the spread of Hepatitis B and even stop it, so once they stick with their medication regiment, they're good to go. But why wait for infection when it can be prevented???

Oh yes, Hepatitis B is not running around chasing you. It can be prevented and you can sleep sound at night knowing you and your family are free of this disease....HOW??, you may ask:

Do you remember those health workers who came from the general hospitals or health centres doing rounds in the neighborhood or community offering vaccines for infants and young children between the ages of 1-5????

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Yes they were vaccinating people against diseases like polio, hepatitis B and the rest because they knew that VACCINATION was the way to go to prevent this diseases or it's spread. This is because a person can have hepatitis B at childhood and not know for years until one day it shows up full bloom, so;

• Vaccinate all of your close family members and sexual partner(s).
  The disease is not airborne, so it can't be passed through cooking,or sneezing or hugging as long as body fluids aren't involved.

• By all means possible, avoid having direct contact with blood and body fluids and if you do, wash thoroughly with both soap and water.

• Don't share sharp items : Injection syringe, razor blades, toothbrushes, nail clippers, and earrings and if you do, please sterilize them properly before you use them.

Make person know from where wetin wan affect am dey come from!😁 @ninapenda @jovita30 @pandoradiary come join this contest.