Lecture 8 - Hepatitis (Blood Borne Diseases) Flashcards
What is Hepatitis?
Inflammation
What are some systemic viruses that can cause liver damage?
EBV (Epstein barr virus Glandular fever)
CMV (Chicken pox)
VZV (Varicellar Zoster Virus chicken pox)
What are Hepatotropes and what does this mean?
Hepatitis viruses
They exclusively affect, target and replicate in hepatocytes
What are the hepatitis virus family?
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis D
Hepatitis E
How to remember the hepatitis family of viruses?
Hep A A for Acute
Hep C C for Chronic
Hep B B for between A and C
Hep D D for Double trouble Cant have D withou B
Hep E E is like A
How is Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E transmitted?
Faecal-oral route
Do you get symptoms with Hepatitis A and E?
Yes they are acute
How is Hepatitis C transmitted?
Blood MAINLY
(Very little through sex)
Does Hepatitis C cause symptoms?
No it is chronic
What do you die of if you get Hepatitis C?
Effects of :
-Liver cirrhosis
-hepatocellular carcinoma
How is Hepatitis B transmitted?
Blood
Sex
Vertical (mother to child)
With Hepatitis B you can get chronic illness or the illness can resolve itself, when are you likely to develop chronic illness and when is it likely to resolve?
Chronic = Infection as a child
Non chronic = infection as adult
How are both Hep B and Hep D transmitted?
Blood/sex/vertical
What is yellow tinging of the eyes called?
Jaundice
What tests are done when suspecting Hepatitis?
Bilirubin levels
Liver function Tests:
-Alanine Transaminase (ALT)
-Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
What is the actual function of the liver?
Filters out bad stuff (toxins and metabolites) from the blood into the bile duct
Why are bilirubin levels high in Hepatitis?
Hepatocytes get overwhelmed by the virus being damaged or dead
Bilirubin from broken down RBCs not removed from blood
Why are AST/ALT levels high in Hepatitis?
AST and ALT released from dead and damaged hepatocytes (damaged by virus)
What causes the jaundice in Hepatitis?
High levels of bilirubin due to poor removal by liver hepatocytes
What causes the jaundice in Hepatitis?
High levels of bilirubin due to poor removal by liver hepatocytes
What are the 2 types of ways jaundice can generally happen?
Intra-hepatic
Extra-hepatic
What is meant by a Intra-hepatic cause of jaundice?
Liver overwhelmed so bilirubin not efficiently removed