Blood Borne Viruses: Viral Hepatitis

Question 1

What is hepatitis?

Answer 1

Inflammation of the liver

Question 2

Which of the hepatitis viruses is DNA?

Answer 2

Hep B

Question 3

What is the viral structure of Hep B?

Answer 3

Double stranded enveloped DNA

Question 4

What is the viral structure of Hep A?

Answer 4

single stranded non enveloped RNA

Question 5

What is the viral structure of Hep C?

Answer 5

Single stranded enveloped icosahedral RNA

Question 6

What is the viral structure of Hep D?

Answer 6

Single stranded non-enveloped RNA

Question 7

What is the viral structure of Hep E?

Answer 7

Single stranded non-enveloped RNA

Question 8

What gives faeces its brown colour?

Answer 8

Broken down bilirubin

**without bilirubin, poo would be a yellowish/lighter brown colour

Question 9

What are the 3 types of jaundice?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Name some causes of prehepatic jaundice

Answer 10

Haemolysis

Question 11

Name some causes of intrehepatic jaundice

Answer 11

VIRAL HEPATITIS 
Drugs 
Alcohol hep
Cirrhosis
Autoimmune cholangitis 
Pregnancy

Question 12

Name some causes of extrahepatic jaundice

Answer 12

Common duct stones
Carcinomas of the bile duct, head of pancrea, ampulla
Biliary stricture
Sclerosing cholangitits 
Pancreatitic pseudocyst

Question 13

Name some things looked at in a liver function test (LFT)

Answer 13

Bilirubin
Liver transaminases (ALT/AST)
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
Albumin 
Clotting factors 
INR (international normalised ratio)
PT (prothrombin time)

Question 14

What does a raised ALT/AST mean?

Answer 14

It shows there is hepatocytes damage- disruption of the cellular integrity

*ALT is usually more useful as it is more sensitive

Question 15

What does a raised ALP level show?

Answer 15

Problem with homeostasis

Due to biliary tract cell damage/ cholestasis etc

Question 16

What does a lowered albumin level show? What can this result in?

Answer 16

Liver damage

Can result in fluid collection elsewhere in the body

Question 17

What does a high INR mean?

Answer 17

Someone is at a higher risk of bleeding

Question 18

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?

Answer 18

Within the liver, intra-hepatic jaundice

Question 19

If someone gets a needle stick injury from someone who has HIV what must be done immediately?

Answer 19

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