The initial phase of hepatitis is called the acute phase. The symptoms are like a mild flu and may include: diarrhoea, fatigue, loss of appetite, mild fever, muscle or joint aches, nausea, slight abdominal pain, vomiting, weight loss. The acute phase is not usually dangerous, unless it develops into the fulminant or rapidly progressing form, which can lead to death. As the patient gets worse, these symptoms may follow:
circulation problems (only toxic/drug-induced hepatitis), dark urine, dizziness (only toxic/drug-induced hepatitis), drowsiness (only toxic/drug-
induced hepatitis), enlarged spleen (only alcoholic hepatitis), headache (only toxic/drug-induced hepatitis), hives, itchy skin, light colored feces, the feces may contain pus, yellow skin, jaundice.

I took the vaccine years back but mehn, i felt so sick afterward
but it's worth it people...get vaccinated and prevent the preventable

Plz , what is d cure to hepatis B? I know a friend who is currently positive to d diseases. Thank u

Firstly,hepatitis B doesn't av cure $ no free treatment unlike HIV.Hepatitis treatment is more expensive,the test,the drugs and others. But d best thing she can do if it has not affect the liver is 4 her 2 stay away from some things like alcohol,smoking $ taking drugs without prescription. And she shud try $ register in LASUTH.By doing dat she ll live long $ live her normal life.

Laeroy: This is so true.....I lost my fiance's elder brother to hepatitis couple of months aago.....and after carrying out some couple of tests on his wife she happens to be hepatitis B positive............Please OP......how can she get free treatment of the underlying disease.....as no member of her family AND her late husband's family is ready to bear the cost of treatment and all that......

Post of the year so far, and some people can't even spare 2 minutes to read it.

stagger: Post of the year so far, and some people can't even spare 2 minutes to read it.

Thanks

skytouch2: Plz , what is d cure to hepatis B? I know a friend who is currently positive to d diseases. Thank u

There is no cure for hepatitis B but there is treatment. Once you receive treatment you should be fine.
This website is amazing on information about hepatitis B:

http://www.hepb.org.uk/information/about_hepb_in_depth/1_what_is_hepatitis_b

May God help us all...pls can you tell us some of d signs and symptoms of dis hepatitis?

Neduzze5:

Solutions

A. There are three types of Hepatitis. There's Hepatitis A, B and C. Hepatitis A is non communicable while B and C is communicable.
B. It can be contacted through sweat, kiss, sex, blood transfusion etc.
C. A is not communicable and not deadly so there's no fear of that one. B has a vaccine that can be gotten for as low as #3000. C doesn't have any cure or vaccine yet.

I hope I've been able to answer your questions.


My name is Neduzze!

You cannot get hepatitis b through sweat or saliva. Unless they have a cut in their mouth or yours, you can't get it through kissing

fareedah86: May God help us all...pls can you tell us some of d signs and symptoms of dis hepatitis?

Symptoms
Many people do not have any symptoms. Others have a flu-like illness with sore throat, joint pains, a loss of appetite and tiredness. Symptoms may also include nausea and vomiting. Acute infection can be severe with abdominal discomfort and jaundice (Health Protection Agency, 2005). Approximately 30% of adults become jaundiced (European Association for the Study of the Liver, 2003). Rarely, some patients may develop fulminant hepatitis (liver failure) and die (World Health Organization, 2002)

If you not gonna work in the medical profession, I don't know why you should be screened for hepatitis......

The way Nigerians reason sometime is shocking.....

most NGOs involved in the health sector do not discriminate against those having hepatitis B or even HIV. In fact, most of them do not even require pre employment medical screening. Mind you, I'm talking of jobs that pay well over 200k/month.

bashorundon: I have received anonymous emails from couple of people on this subject, and I took my time to do some research, online and offline, before coming up with this piece.

First, to put things in perspective, hepatitis is endemic the world over, with over 400 million chronically infected persons, more than 20 million of whom are in Nigeria. With our population put at about 160 million, what that means is that 1 out of every 8 Nigerians is infected. That is how widespread it is. But the good – and equally dangerous – thing about it is that it doesn’t manifest early, and more than half of the people carrying it are not even aware.

Since medicals is compulsory before employment in virtually every organization that matters, hepatitis is one of the tests most, if not all, of the employers look out for. The hiring decisions of employers based on positive hepatitis status in a prospective employee after medicals can be grouped into 3:

1, Outright rejection: Some organizations see this as failure of medicals, and reject such candidate outright. Some tell the candidate that is the reason, some will not even get back, and that is the end of recruitment process for such person. Some organizations, like Nigerian Navy (and other forces, I think) will even put it as part of the conditions for employment from the onset, even before application. For many others, it doesn’t come up until medicals stage, after the candidate would have gone through and passed tests and interviews. Many Nigerian banks belong to this category.

2, Conditional acceptance: In the course of my research, I met someone that told me he was given the job even though his medicals showed he was hepatitis positive, but with the condition that his medical insurance coverage will not extend to that; meaning, he will be responsible for his treatment. The person works in one of the biggest Nigerian banks.

3, Unconditional acceptance: Some companies do not consider hepatitis condition a failure of medicals, so they give infected candidates job unconditionally, with the company’s insurance also covering its management.

However, there are some companies, especially SMEs, that don’t do medicals at all, or rigorous medicals, probably because they are not ready to bear the cost or because they are so unstructured, like some one-man businesses (Alhaji Mai Dogo Transport Limited, Uche & Brothers, Asaaje Consulting etc). But most structured companies, those that will pay you N100,000 and above per month, will do medicals.

Also, the nature of some jobs makes it compulsory that the worker is not hepatitis positive. Jobs like nursing, medical laboratory science and others that deal with contact with human blood and use of sharp objects cannot be done by someone that is hepatitis positive; else there is risk of transmission. So, most hospitals and labs may not employ someone that is positive.

Another implication of being hepatitis positive on employment is that such a person may not be able to get foreign employment in most countries, at least I know Qatar, UAE, Malaysia and, I think but not sure, USA, where you will not be given residency/living visa if you are hepatitis positive. So you may not be able to travel abroad for employment in these countries.

Now, a big question: is the rejection policy by some Nigerian companies not stigmatization and discrimination? I have not laid my hands on Nigerian labor laws, so I may not be able to tell from legal perspective.

Generally, from my research on this subject, I think hepatitis is a serious health challenge in Nigeria. I have stated the endemic rate of 12.5% in the opening part of this article. I think the figure is high because of the highly contagious nature of the disease – it can spread from as seemingly harmless action as contact with the sweat of an infected (remember 1 out of every 8 Nigerians is infected, and many don’t know). The virus is also said to have the ability to stay active in a place it has contact with, like toilet, for as many as 7 days! But the good thing is, the B-type, which is the most common, is vaccine-preventable. For as low as N3000, you get the vaccine, which is said to have 95% success rate (i.e once vaccinated, your chance of contracting Hepatitis B, if not positive already, is as low as 5%, even with contact with infected blood).

This vaccination has been part of the Nigeria Health Policy in the last decade I think, so children born in recognized private and public hospitals (not sure whether this is also the case in the semi-urban and rural areas) are compulsorily vaccinated and immune. Those born earlier need to voluntarily go and test themselves, and if still negative (chance is 7/, should go and start vaccine immediately. Only B is vaccine-preventable though, I learned C does not have vaccine yet, which means that with vaccine, you cannot contract B again, but you can still contract C, but it is not endemic in Nigeria. Note also, that the hepatitis I am talking about with respect to employment is hepatitis B and C. A-type is not a chronic and not tested in company medicals. In fact, most companies test only B.

Another point on hepatitis and employment, is, even in companies that reject infected candidates, if you have some rare skills or coming as a top management staff, you may be so badly needed that they will be willing to waive such. Continue reading here >>>> http://www.jarushub.com/hepatitis-and-company-employment-in-nigeria/

just tested b positive when l went to donate blood. arrangement in top gear for vaccine and drugs. need your prayers

I wonder why some folks find it difficult to read an eye-opening article as this. You will be doing yourself a whole lot of good by taking time to really go through it.
Don't let's give credence to the claim by the white men that if you want to hide anything from an African, put it in a book 'cos he/she won't read it.
To the topic, there is little or no enlightenment on hepatitis that's why so many people have contacted the disease without knowing. Hepatitis is a silent killer and even more deadly than the dreaded HIV/AIDS. Hepatitis can be well managed in good hands if it is detected early. Op, thanks for this eye-opener.

Thank you Op for this beautiful exposition.
I think its time our legislators both in the states and federal level look into this issue of stigmatization due to ones health status. Weather HIV or Hepatitis, employers should'nt refuse one employment cos of that.
If a HIV +ve person for example is refused employment becase of his status, dont you think that frustration and anoyance can lead such person into spreading the virus to others?

Don't waste ur money on vassine cos it ll not work u already av it. Vassine is 4 those who don't av it 2 prevent them from having it. And has 4 drugs,it dEpend if ur viral load is high u start 2 take ur drugs. $ if it still low,u wot take drugs u just abide by d rules $ regulation.

realjaybash:

just tested b positive when l went to donate blood. arrangement in top gear for vaccine and drugs. need your prayers

realjaybash:

just tested b positive when l went to donate blood. arrangement in top gear for vaccine and drugs. need your prayers

Unfortunately, once positive, vaccine cannot help again.

Idoma Likita: I'm sorry to Digress! But I see this as an Appropriate forum to raise this issue!

A friend of mine was rejected by a Government Hospital when He applied for Housemanship some Years back on account of HIV Seropositivity! I don't know how he eventually did HJ but I remember us telling him back then to sue, considering the fact that he probably must have contracted it in Medical School during A&E, Obs&Gynae, Paediatrics, and Surgery Postings where Contact with Patient Blood was inevitable!

My Questions are:
1.Since HouseJob is a Compulsory Part of Medical Training without which your Provisional License cannot be Upgraded! And being denied that Opportunity is tantamount to wasted 6-8yrs in school, Does that provide a ground for legal action?

2. The Argument would be that He could contaminate his Patients inadvertently, But there are Branches of Medicine where Doctors have MINIMAL CLOSE-CONTACT with Patients (eg Public Health, Psychiatry etc) where this fellow could be deployed to! However, training in such fields CANNOT proceed without Housemanship which involves the Rotation of the Intern around 4 Department and he MUST make Close contact with Patients!
In this case, does the Govt Hospital have any legal justification for the Outright rejection of this fellow?

Once again, I'm sorry for derailing the Post!

Seriously issues like this needs to be looked into by the appropriate bodies. I think its hypocritical when the govt carry out campaigns urging everyone to go and test for these viruses, making it sound like a simple issue, when they dont have friendly policies as regards employment of people living with these viruses.
Its bearable when private establishments discriminate against people living with these viruses, but in the case of the govt, its very bad in my opinion.
.
THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT THE SPREAD OF VIRAL INFECTIONS LIKE HEPATITIS AND HIV IS TO STOP STIGMATIZATION.

I remember when i went to do Interview in NIBSS(NIGERIA INTER-BANK SETTLEMENT SYSTEM) in Victoria Island, Lagos. What i read on their site is was " NIGERIA INTER-BANK SETTLEMENT SYSTEM, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY,NON-DISCRIMINATORY" company. I was sent packing because i tested positive to Hepatitis B. I became rejected,down and bitter. Angry at what i see as plain discrimination against my health status and violation of privacy. I had the experience,qualification to work there and i was just about to pick up my letter and ID Card before i got turned down. I did vast research and discovered that there is massive misinformation about the condition. The doctors from ST Nicholas Hospital at Muri Okunola, lagos said it was so deadly and infectious that ordinary sweat,kiss,body touch transmits it. This prompted me 2 do test 4 my fiancee, she was negative. While Hspg+ is infectious,only 2 to 5 percent leads into deadly stage, rhinosos or so. Many of our doctors sadly are wack,incompetent and lack information. Our Government need to tighten law against discrimination as anybody infected,no matter d state of d virus(inactive,inate) blood test will always be positive. Go to experienced doctors for advice and medication. Mostly a drug called LIVOLIN is used to treat it. Again,stay away from drugs, smoking, drinking as these only catalyze and damage your liver the more.

Hmmmm, this is eye openin and scarely. My urine do get dark brownish sometym, it has happen for like two tyms now. I went to a hospital to complain to a doctor and some drugs were prescribe for me. I havent done any test yet bt wish to do. May God save us frm diseases of any kind. There is low knowledge abt this hepatitis. Government and our health workers need to do more.

i was tested B positive in 2006.., i even traveled abroad 2yrs back cos of it... i was told that i'm just a carrier .. that it can't affect me.. since 2006, i never fell sick or any symptoms what so ever.. some are carriers. but i do go for liver functioning test every year.

abdulkayus: Hmmmm, this is eye openin and scarely. My urine do get dark brownish sometym, it has happen for like two tyms now. I went to a hospital to complain to a doctor and some drugs were prescribe for me. I havent done any test yet bt wish to do. May God save us frm diseases of any kind. There is low knowledge abt this hepatitis. Government and our health workers need to do more.

Its better to go take some tests, by the way its not totally abnormal to have deep coloured urine sometimes especially in the mornings its your body doing its cleaning work.....to help always take enough water before bed and during the day too.

pickabeau1: nice article... until we have a medicare-model these issues will still bedevil us

This is the only nairalander that went to school..All others are motor park conductors

Companies are looking to save cost by all means, basically if u have hepatitis u shud be preparing for self employment

@Donalð Genes


You are far too kind... na night school oooo

...It killed my friend we served together immediately we passed out last june.
I can't forget that guy.
I still love and miss him.
RIP my guy

....

so na like dis we go dey stay..i don faint.

It's really becoming a health harzard. In my school, there is free vaccine available. I took two doses But didn't take the third and final one.

realjaybash:

just tested b positive when l went to donate blood. arrangement in top gear for vaccine and drugs. need your prayers

God's protection over you. AMEEN.

This is a good eye-opener. I never knew hepatitis is such a serious viral disease. I had a case where a guy was disqualified after our induction when we were given offer letters. I didn't take it serious then, but thank God I have learnt alot today. Government should enlighten people on this cankerworm and how to avoid it knowing full well it has no cure. The enlightenment should be put side by side with HIV as both are deadly diseases. God please help human beings, the world is dying! What a surprise!

jide olasoji: i was tested B positive in 2006.., i even traveled abroad 2yrs back cos of it... i was told that i'm just a carrier .. that it can't affect me.. since 2006, i never fell sick or any symptoms what so ever.. some are carriers. but i do go for liver functioning test every year.

I'm chronic hep b too and according to my doctor I'm healthier than most people. I get a check up every year just to keep an eye on it. I've never been on any type of medication and according to them I probably never will be. It's really not as bad as people make it look to be