3 Ways of Preventing Hepatitis B

Posted by Clinical Care Options, LLC on May 8th, 2019

Hepatitis, or the inflammation of the liver, is one of the leading communicable diseases across the globe. One type of hepatitis, hepatitis B, is the infection of the liver that can cause life-threatening liver complications like liver damage, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer.

According to the July 2018 figures of the World Health Organization, around 257 million people carry the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Sadly, many of these people are unaware of their infection.

With new cases occurring almost every day, hepatitis CE or continuing education has become more significant in the medical community than ever before. Hepatitis CE has been paving the way to the discovery of better treatments that can help both patients and medical professionals.

While it's possible that more effective treatments and medicines will be available in the future, prevention is currently the best cure. Here are a few ways to avoid contracting HBV.

Get Vaccinated

Getting vaccinated is considered to be the single most effective way of preventing hepatitis B. The vaccines are highly recommended for the following:

• Sexually active people with different sex partners
• People with hepatitis B-positive sex partners
• Individuals who share needles, syringes, and other drug-injecting equipment
• Healthcare workers who are exposed to blood or bodily fluids
• Those diagnosed with chronic liver disease, kidney disease, HIV infection, or diabetes
• Newborn infants

Hepatitis B vaccines come in three-dose and two-dose variants. The three-dose vaccine is given on a schedule of 0, 1, and 6 months, while the two-dose vaccine is given one month apart.

Use Condoms

Hepatitis B is believed to be 50 to 100 times easier to be transmitted sexually than the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV). For this reason, using condoms during sexual intercourse can significantly reduce the risks of getting infected by HBV.

Unprotected sex, both oral and vaginal, can put you and your partner at risk of contracting HBV. The HBV virus can be found in vaginal secretions, semen, as well as saliva.

Wash Your Hands                    

 HBV can survive outside the body for up to 7 days, which makes everyone susceptible to infection. One way to prevent HBV infection is by the simple act of handwashing. Washing your hands with warm, soapy water can help prevent the spread of the HBV virus and other common illnesses as well.

More people around the globe are getting infected with hepatitis B. Currently, there is no cure for this disease, but it's highly preventable.

With hepatitis CE, medical researchers and practitioners may soon find a treatment that can fully cure hepatitis B. If medical professionals were able to eradicate smallpox back in 1980, then it's possible that further studies can cure hepatitis B once and for all.