Is Hepatitis B curable? What are the causes?

Question

Is there a possibility that a pregnant woman can transfer this illness to her baby?

Answer 1

Hepatitis B is a viral disease that is usually spread by an exchange of body fluids (IV drug use/needle sticks, sex, exposure through open wounds, etc). It is a very hardly virus. It can live for up to 2 weeks in a drop of dried blood and infect someone touching it who has a cut on their hand.

This disease attacks the liver and, unchecked, can cause severe liver damage and even death. An effective vaccination against hepatits B has been available for years and, in the U.S., is usually the very first immunization given--often within hours of birth. If a person does become infected there are a number of drugs available to stop the progression of the disease, if needed. None of these drugs are effective in completely erradicating the disease. However, many cases of hepatitis B exposure are not clinically serious. Some individuals, after exposure to the virus, form antibodies to it but show no signs of infection or of harboring the virus in their bodies. Others do end up haboring the virus in their bodies, but do not show signs of infection...these individuals become chronic carriers of the disease. Often the only way to determine what is happening is through repeated blood testing. Hepatitis B is often a co-infection, and an individual exposed to it should be tested for other diseases, such as Hepatitis C and D, HIV, syphilis, etc, depending upon the situation surrounding the infection, if this is known.

Yes, hepatitis B can be spread to the unborn baby either in utero, during birth, or after birth via saliva or breast milk. I am uncerntain if there are drugs available, that the mother can take and that are safe for the baby, to reduce the chance of transmission.

Answer 2

At this current time there is no cure fro Hepatitis B. There is a vaccine! Yeah- everyoen should get it. I got due to my high exposure risk, but it solves a lot of worries. A Pregnant woman can pass it to her fetus. It is easy to test for a simple blood draw can help you find out. Average results for outpatient testing coem back in about 1 week. In hospital, in under an hour for the surface antigen and a day for the the other antibodies. Due to the severity of complications it can cause in a fetus you should have the testing done. For more information refer to listed website, it is very acurate.

Answer 3

94% of people clear the surface antigen and become antibodies positive. 5% of the people with the infection keep the antigen and get chronic hepatitis B. The 1% left, particularly if they had another liver disease, can die.

Baby can get the infection from the mother during pregnancy. Such women need to have particular attention at the moment of delivery, it has to be the least bloody possible and with the least contact between virus and baby.

Answer 4

Here is a link that can help you to understand more about hepatitis b
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/