What is Hepatitis?

 The word hepatitis simply means inflammation (titis) of the liver (hepat). Hepatitis can be caused by:

  • viruses, 

  • harmful consumption of alcohol, drugs, medications, 

  • contact with some chemical and toxins, and

  • some autoimmune conditions.

The inflammation in the liver is your body’s natural reaction to the damage being caused by these conditions and toxins. The liver is the largest organ inside your body, positioned in the top right side of your abdomen, above your stomach and beneath your diaphragm. The liver performs over 500 functions to help manufacture, store, and process anything that you put in your body, including food, alcohol, medicine, or toxins. 

Hepatitis can be acute or chronic.

Acute hepatitis means the virus might make you sick for a short time but then you will recover. Some people may experience symptoms, but most people do not get seriously ill during acute hepatitis infection except for hepatitis A, which is less common in Australia. Most people recover from this illness within a few weeks with no lasting effects.

Chronic hepatitis means the virus stays in your liver for your whole life. You may not always feel sick, but over time the virus can damage your liver. As more liver cells are damaged and destroyed, scar tissue takes their place. This is known as fibrosis. Severe fibrosis can cause the liver to harden, preventing it from functioning as it should. This is called cirrhosis of the liver. In a small number of cases, serious damage to the liver can lead to liver failure and, ultimately, liver cancer.

There are five different types of viral hepatitis. Many of these also have subtypes or strains.

The five different hepatitis types are: Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D, Hepatitis E

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are the most common types of viral hepatitis globally with an estimated 325 million people living with these viruses.  

To have a hepatitis D infection you need to have an active hepatitis B infection for the virus to replicate.

The transmission route for hepatitis D is also the same as hepatitis B (blood-to-blood contact, sexual contact and mother to child transmission).

Hepatitis E is similar to hepatitis A as it is transmitted through fecal-oral route, but they are unrelated.