World Hepatitis Day (WHD) is observed each year on July 28, the birthday of Dr. Baruch Blumberg (1925-2011). Dr. Blumberg discovered the hepatitis B virus in 1967, and two years later, he developed the first hepatitis B vaccine. As a result of these achievements, Dr. Blumberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976.
Organizations around the world, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) commemorate WHD to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, which impacts more than 354 million people worldwide. WHD provides an opportunity to educate people about the burden of these infections, the CDC’s efforts to combat viral hepatitis around the world, and actions people can take to prevent these infections.
In keeping with its mission to eliminate viral hepatitis in the U.S. and globally, the CDC collaborates with international partners to help countries experiencing high rates of infection to prevent, control and eliminate viral hepatitis.
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, mostly caused by a viral infection. The liver is a vital organ that processes nutrients, filters the blood and fights infections. When the liver is inflamed or damaged, its function can be affected.
Many people with hepatitis do not have symptoms and do not know they are infected. If symptoms occur with an acute infection, they can appear anytime from two weeks to sixmonths after exposure, while symptoms of chronic viral hepatitis can take decades to develop. Those symptoms can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain and jaundice.
What are the different types of hepatitis?
Viral hepatitis – a group of five main infectious viruses referred to as types A, B, C, D and E – affects millions of people worldwide, causing both acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) liver disease and more than 1 million deaths each year. While deaths from tuberculosis and HIV have been declining, deaths from hepatitis are increasing.
The three most common types of viral hepatitis are:
- Hepatitis A.
- About 24,900 new infections in the U.S. each year.
- Effective vaccine available.
- Spread when a person ingests fecal matter – even in microscopic amounts – from contact with objects, food or drinks contaminated by feces or stool from an infected person.
- Hepatitis B.
- About 22,600 new U.S. infections in 2018.
- Estimated 862,000 people living in the U.S. with hepatitis B.
- Effective vaccine available.
- About two in three people with hepatitis B do not know they are infected.
- A leading cause of liver cancer.
- Primarily spread when blood, semen or other body fluids – even in microscopic amounts – from a person infected with the hepatitis B virus enters the body of someone who is not infected.
- Hepatitis C.
- About 50,300 new U.S. infections in 2018.
- Estimated 2.4 million people living in the U.S. with hepatitis C.
- No vaccine available.
- About 50% of people with hepatitis C do not know they are infected.
- A leading cause of liver transplants and liver cancer.
- Spread when blood from a person infected with the hepatitis C virus – even in microscopic amounts – enters the body of someone who is not infected.
Be hepatitis aware.
For more about World Hepatitis Day, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s webpage. And you can learn more about hepatitis at these helpful links:
- Explore the online health library from MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital to discover a wealth of information about hepatitis.
- Should you be tested for hepatitis? Read this blog article from FirstHealth of the Carolinas.
- Learn more about hepatitis A, B and C from our partners at Carle Health.
- Read even more about the “ABCs of hepatitis” at this link from Reid Health and this page from Memorial Health.
- Know your risk for hepatitis – check out this blog article from OSF HealthCare.