Viral (or aseptic) hepatitis is liver inflammation caused by
infection with a virus. Common symptoms of hepatitis are pain below the right
side of the rib cage, nausea, fatigue, jaundice (causing a yellowing of the
skin and the whites of the eyes), and headache.
All types of hepatitis damage liver cells and can cause the liver
to become swollen and tender. Some types of hepatitis can cause permanent liver
damage.
The following viruses can cause hepatitis:
- Hepatitis A virus (HAV)
- Hepatitis B
virus (HBV)
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
- Hepatitis D virus
(HDV)
- Hepatitis E virus (HEV)
- Epstein-Barr virus (which
causes mononucleosis but rarely causes hepatitis)
- Cytomegalovirus
(which causes CMV, which is similar to mononucleosis, but rarely causes
hepatitis)
A virus that causes hepatitis can spread from one person to
another. Some hepatitis viruses spread when an uninfected person comes in
contact with body fluids, such as infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluid.
Other viruses are spread by contaminated food and water or by coming in direct
contact with the stool (feces) of a person who is infected with the virus. In
their early states, the viruses may be difficult to tell apart. However,
several weeks to several months after infection occurs, blood tests can show
which of the viruses is causing hepatitis.
Most people with viral hepatitis recover on their own, and doctors
often will recommend bed rest, plenty of fluids, and medicine to relieve fever
and headache. Antiviral medicine can treat some cases of hepatitis. Some forms
of hepatitis can become chronic and increase a person's chance of liver failure
or liver cancer.
