Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Most people can fight off a hepatitis B infection without treatment. But people who can't clear the virus develop a life-long infection (chronic hepatitis B). In these people, the infection can cause permanent liver damage, and even death.
There is no cure for chronic hepatitis B infection. An estimated 350 million people around the world suffer from it.

How do you get Hepatitis B?

You can get hepatitis B by having unprotected oral, vaginal, or anal sex with an infected person.
Other ways you can get hepatitis B are:

• Sharing contaminated hypodermic needles
• Sharing razors or toothbrushes with an infected person
• Using non-sterilised equipment for body piercing, acupuncture, or tattooing
• Having a contaminated blood transfusion
• During delivery, from an infected mother to her baby

You cannot get hepatitis B by sharing food, sharing water, hugging, kissing, coughing, sneezing, or breastfeeding.
Certain things may increase your chance of getting hepatitis B:

• Injecting drugs
• Being a dialysis patient
• Living with someone with a chronic hepatitis B infection 
• Being exposed to blood during your work

How do you protect yourself from getting Hepatitis B?

1. Get Vaccinated.
Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent HBV infection. In order to get the full benefit of being vaccinated, you need to have three shots over a period of three to six months.
2. Use sterilised needles.
Every time you get a blood transfusion make sure you receive sterilised needles. The principle is the same if you use injection drugs – make sure you use a new sterilised needle, and don’t share needles.
3. Always use condoms.

What are the signs that you've got Hepatitis B?

Most people who have a hepatitis B infection also show signs of infection. A smaller proportion (30 percent) of adults don’t have any symptoms but are still infected with the virus.
Hepatitis B symptoms usually show up within six weeks to six months after infection. And the symptoms are the same in women and men. They tend to begin with flu-like signs including fever and tiredness. Some people may experience nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, along with loss of appetite and weight loss.

Other signs of hepatitis B infection include:

• Abdominal pain
• Dark urine
• Joint pain
• Jaundice (yellow skin and yellow eyes)
• Itchy skin

How do you get tested for Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B can be diagnosed with a simple blood test.
If you think you could have been infected recently, you may be advised to wait up to two months before getting tested. This is because it could take this long for the virus and its effects on the body to show up in a blood test.
If your doctor suspects you have a chronic hepatitis B infection, you might have other tests. You may be tested for liver damage or cancer using an ultrasound scan. And depending on the severity of the infection, the doctor may take a sample of your liver (biopsy) to find out whether you’ve got liver damage or cancer.

How do you get rid of Hepatitis B?

For 95 percent of adults, their body will clear the virus within four to eight weeks without vaccination. During these two months, it’s still possible to pass on the infection to someone else. If your body successfully clears the hepatitis B infection, you'll be immune to the virus for the rest of your life.
In the remaining five percent of people infected with hepatitis B, their body is unable to clear the virus. Some of these people go on to develop liver cancer and may die from liver failure.
If you’re one of the five percent with a chronic hepatitis B infection there is no cure. But it’s possible to remain free of symptoms for up to 20 years after being infected. Your doctor will recommend you follow a lifestyle that will help keep symptoms at bay.
Chronic hepatitis B treatment
Your doctor will recommend that you eat healthily, drink plenty of fluids, and avoid alcohol, whether you have symptoms or not.

To combat liver damage such as cirrhosis or liver cancer, doctors may prescribe Interferon Alpha, Lamivudine, or Baraclude. All these medications are intended to slow down the multiplication of the virus in your body.

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Pubic lice

Pubic lice are also known as ‘crabs’. Pubic lice are small parasites that dig underneath your skin, and feed on your blood.
If you’re infected, you can sometimes see them with your naked eye as tiny white dots on your pubic hair.
While annoying, crabs are curable.

How do you get pubic lice?

You can get pubic lice from sexual and non-sexual contact. Basically, crabs are spread from very close skin-to-skin contact or by intimate behaviours including sharing clothing, bedding, and sleeping bags. You can't get pubic lice by sitting on a toilet or from swimming pools.

How can you protect yourself from getting pubic lice?

1. Stop having sex with someone infected with pubic lice.
Unlike other STDs, condoms don’t protect against crabs.
2.Wash bedding, clothing, and other shared items in extremely hot water.
If you share bedding or clothing with an infected person, it’s important to wash these items in extremely hot water, at 60 degree Celsius or hotter. Items that can't be washed, such as mattresses or cushions, dry clean them or seal items in a plastic bag for at least 72 hours.
In general, lice can't survive without human skin for more than one to two days.

What are the signs that you've got pubic lice?

If you’re infected with pubic lice - commonly known as crabs - symptoms usually show up within two weeks after you are infected (but can appear between five days and seven weeks)
Sometimes, it’s possible to see pubic lice with the naked eye as tiny white dots at the base of your pubic hair. Lice can also be found on a moustache or beard, eyebrows, eyelashes, legs, or under the armpits. They particularly like to cling on to coarse hair.

Public lice symptoms include:

• Itching in the genital area
• Itching on the legs, chest, eyebrows, or under the armpits
• Visible tiny white dots (lice eggs)
• Visible crawling lice
• Red or brown spots on your underwear because of lice faeces

How do you get tested for pubic lice?

Go to your nearest health care provider for a diagnosis. They'll probably look at your pubic area or other suspected areas with a magnifying glass to see if you've got live pubic lice, or 'crabs'. Itchy red spots, dark brown spots (lice faeces) on your underwear, and tiny white dots among the hairs (lice eggs) are also signs of pubic lice.

How can you get rid of pubic lice?

Getting rid of pubic lice involves three steps: medication, washing infected items, and informing any sexual partners or people who’ve come into contact with your clothing and bedding.
1. Pubic lice medication.
Washing with ordinary soap won’t make a difference.
You can either get insecticide lotion or cream prescribed by your doctor, or buy an over-the-counter treatment.
Over-the-counter treatments generally contain either malathion or permethrin. Treatments containing malathion can be used for anyone over the age of six months. Permethrin lotion or cream is only advisable to use if you’re over 18. It isn’t advisable for pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers.
Both malathion and permethrin insecticide lotions or creams have similar instructions.
You have to apply the insecticide to the hair all over your body, after you’ve washed and dried yourself. This includes applying it to your scalp, face, eyebrow, ears, neck and moustache (if you’ve got one), as well as hair around your anus.
Avoid getting lotion in your eyes. If you do, use water to rinse your eyes thoroughly.
Leave the insecticide on your body for the time recommended in the instructions. After the recommended time has passed, wash it off thoroughly. And repeat again after seven days.
Remove nits (lice eggs) using a fine-toothed comb. Change into clean clothing and underwear.
2. Hot water washing
Wash any of your clothes that you wore before getting treatment and any of your bedding in water that’s 60° or hotter. If you can’t wash your clothes, either dry clean them or seal them in a plastic bag for 72 hours. Do the same thing with your mattress and pillows. Otherwise, you can become re-infected with lice.
3. Informing your sexual partners.
Tell your sexual partner(s) or anyone else that may have come into contact with your bedding, clothing, or towels to get tested and treated too. Otherwise, you may inadvertently end up getting pubic lice again.

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