PLEASE NOTE! All articles here in this site are informative for common knowledge. Please study different sources for information and visit a local doctor.

PREVENTING HEPATITIS B

There are numerous vaccines for hepatitis B that can be availed from the market today. They are usually given in series comprising of three immunizations at the age of 0-1-6 months. But this can also be given as accelerated 4 dose schedule. Another dose can be given in 2 different doses during adolescence (11-15 years).These vaccines can protect children and adults in 90% of the cases, to a large extent and the protection period lasts for more than 23 years.

Anyone can receive this vaccine in their lifetime, be it infants or adults. Infants are usually given this medicine during the first year of their birth at the age of 2 -4-9 months respectively.

Apart from vaccines, there are several ways of preventing hepatitis B and this includes:

• Proper knowledge of the disease: You must first educate yourself. Learn all about the disease, how it strikes, what are the causes and how can the same be prevented.
• Know whether your sex partner has HBV or not: Do not engage yourself in sexual activities with a person who has HBV infection. This disease is highly transmitted to the other partner sexually. So be careful.
• Use polyurethane or latex condoms for safe sex: Protected sex can help in preventing these diseases from being transmitted. Use condoms during sex to be on the safer side. Females can also use female condoms for protection. But of course, condoms aren’t an effective way of preventing the disease, as the condoms can break, thus making it risky. So it’s better to be cautious.
• Needles must be sterile: Always ask for sterile needles or fresh ones during an injection. If you are injecting illicit drugs, make sure the needles being used are sterilized properly.
• Seek medical help before traveling: If you’ve been planning to go abroad to such a place where hepatitis B is prevalent, make sure you seek proper medical assistance. Take your vaccines in advance before traveling.
• Be careful about the blood transfusion techniques in some countries: Though blood transfusion in most of the countries is strictly screened, but in some countries, the risk still prevails. It is always better to ask for a proper screening of the blood sample before it is given to someone else.
• Get tested during pregnancy: Pregnancy is one of the crucial stages where hepatitis B can play havoc. Get tested during pregnancy and if you are diagnosed with hepatitis B virus, steps can be taken to protect the child from being infected. Though chances of infection are high, but with proper care at the initial stages, it can be prevented.

If you have already been infected by the HBV virus, try to:

• Have safe sex: Having safe sex would help in protecting your partner from the disease. Use condoms so that the disease doesn’t spread any further.
• Inform your partner about your disease: You can always do that to protect him/her from the disease.
• Don’t share your personal items: Prefer not to share your razors or toothbrush with anyone else.
• Do not donate blood: Donating your infected blood can spread the virus to someone else.