Hepatitis infection

Hepatitis infection has become an important epidemiological problem even though vaccination against it is very popular. But the number of detected cases of hepatitis C infection, for which the vaccine is unavailable, still increase.

Where can you get infected?

at the hairdresser’s
at the dentist’s
in the hospital
at the beautician’s
in a tattoo shop
during sexual intercourse

What are the main symptoms suggestive of hepatitis?

moderate fever
malaise
loss of appetite
excessive sweating
nausea
itching skin
pain in the right epigastrium (the area of the liver)
painful joints
jaundice, dark urine, pale stool (in 50% of cases there are no such symptoms)

At present, diagnostic procedures available in our laboratory include the following examinations (you are given oly basic interpretation of the tests, the final diagnosis is established by the physician after performing appropriate examinations):

HBs antigen – acute hepatitis infection or carrier state
anti-HBs antibodies – immunity acquired after infection or vaccinationion
anti-HBc total - condition after exposure to HBV (negative HBs antigen) or chronic hepatitis infection (positive HBs antigen )
HBe antigen – acute or chronic hepatitis infection
IgM anti-HBc - acute or chronic hepatitis B infection
anti-Hbe antibodies – condition after acute hepatitis or current virus multiplication
IgM anti-HAV – current infection
anti-HAV total antibodies - confirmation of immunity
test confirming a positive result of HBs antigen
DNA HBV (Hepatitis B Virus DNA) – detection of genetic material of the virus
RNA HCV (Hepatitis C Virus RNA) – detection of genetic material of the virus
DNA HBV (quantitative determination) – determination of the number of virus units in a given volume
RNA HCV (quantitative determination) – determination of the number of virus units in a given volume
RNA HCV (genotyping) – determination of type of virus and number of virus units in a given volume