OCR Text |
Show Personal hygiene prevents spread of hepatitis By Michael Harrison Practicing good sanitation and personal hygiene are the key steps toward, to-ward, preventing the spread of infectious in-fectious hepatitis. There is no cure for hepatitis, but 99 percent of the cases usually resolve themselves with proper care. Passive protection with immune serum globulin is recommended for household and other close contacts. This is particularly par-ticularly important for adults because the disease may be more severe and more prolonged in them than in infants and children. Hepatitis can be contracted only through fecal-oral contact. It is not a contagious disease, but is an infectious one. In other words, hepatitis cannot be contracted by breathing on a person; very close contact must be maintained to get it. Therefore, if a person drinks from the same glass as an infected person, eats together, etc., the possibility exists that he could contract hepatitis. If exposed to infectious hepatitis, you need to contact your physician. The incubation period of infectious hepatitis is 10 to 40 days, or an average of 25 days. The disease may be most communicable about two weeks before onset of jaundice and probably no more than one week after. The beginning symptoms are characterized by an abrupt onset with fever, a feeling of restlessness, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark-colored urine and the last symptom to occur is ' jaundice. During the first two weeks of illness and at least one week after onset of jaundice, it is usually recommended of people with hepatitis to stay home and be on bed rest. Following their physician's recommendation will help the person's body to use its own defenses in fighting the disease. Since infectious hepatitis virus is excreted in the feces and the fecal carrier state may last 5 to 15 months, an excellent preventive measure is good hand washing after going to the bathroom and before eating. Parents should supervise children's hand washing. For further information, contact your physician or health department. |