Blood Borne Viruses: Viral Hepatitis Flashcards
What is hepatitis?
Inflammation of the liver
Which of the hepatitis viruses is DNA?
Hep B
What is the viral structure of Hep B?
Double stranded enveloped DNA
What is the viral structure of Hep A?
single stranded non enveloped RNA
What is the viral structure of Hep C?
Single stranded enveloped icosahedral RNA
What is the viral structure of Hep D?
Single stranded non-enveloped RNA
What is the viral structure of Hep E?
Single stranded non-enveloped RNA
What gives faeces its brown colour?
Broken down bilirubin
**without bilirubin, poo would be a yellowish/lighter brown colour
What are the 3 types of jaundice?
Prehepatic- too much haemoglobin in the body so lots is broken down or excess haemolysis
Intraheptic- problems within the liver cells therefore bilirubin is not dealt with
Extraheptaive- some obstruction in the flow of the bile as it tries to enter the duodenum
Name some causes of prehepatic jaundice
Haemolysis
Name some causes of intrehepatic jaundice
VIRAL HEPATITIS Drugs Alcohol hep Cirrhosis Autoimmune cholangitis Pregnancy
Name some causes of extrahepatic jaundice
Common duct stones Carcinomas of the bile duct, head of pancrea, ampulla Biliary stricture Sclerosing cholangitits Pancreatitic pseudocyst
Name some things looked at in a liver function test (LFT)
Bilirubin Liver transaminases (ALT/AST) Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) Albumin Clotting factors INR (international normalised ratio) PT (prothrombin time)
What does a raised ALT/AST mean?
It shows there is hepatocytes damage- disruption of the cellular integrity
*ALT is usually more useful as it is more sensitive
What does a raised ALP level show?
Problem with homeostasis
Due to biliary tract cell damage/ cholestasis etc
What does a lowered albumin level show? What can this result in?
Liver damage
Can result in fluid collection elsewhere in the body
What does a high INR mean?
Someone is at a higher risk of bleeding
If someone has jaundice and they have raised ALT and ALP levels but normal haemoglobin levels, where is the problem likely to lie and therefore what type of jaundice are you dealing with?
Within the liver, intra-hepatic jaundice
If someone gets a needle stick injury from someone who has HIV what must be done immediately?
First aid: bleed and wash wound
Collect blood from patient and person with injury
Inform occupational health
Assess risk and need for immediate HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) -is the persons vaccinated
