Attention! Hepatitis B carriers are not hepatitis B patients!

I have read many similar stories before, such as finding out that you are a hepatitis B carrier and losing hope in life, finding out that your boyfriend or girlfriend is a hepatitis B carrier and considering whether to break up, being rejected by the company or unit because of being a hepatitis B carrier after a physical examination, and finding out that your partner is a hepatitis B carrier and not choosing to abandon them but not knowing how to protect yourself and the other person, etc. There are endless stories. It seems that the public's understanding of hepatitis B carriers is indeed still somewhat insufficient. Regarding hepatitis B, I believe that many readers have experienced when they were young that an uncle they knew was diagnosed with hepatitis B, and were warned by their parents not to go to their house to play anymore and to stay away from them, otherwise they would be infected!!! It can be seen that the infectiousness of the hepatitis B virus is so high in the impression of our parents, and it has been engraved in our hearts for a long time. So why didn't you hear your parents mention that someone is a hepatitis B carrier when you were young? Maybe hepatitis B carriers don't even know that they are hepatitis B carriers. Then let's take a look at what this terrible hepatitis B is.

What is Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is also called hepatitis B. First of all, the most common hepatitis in clinical practice is viral hepatitis, which, as the name suggests, is liver inflammation caused by viral infection. There are currently five main known hepatitis viruses, namely A, B, C, D, E and G. Among them, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus are the most infectious. Fortunately, the hepatitis B vaccine is now relatively mature, with a high degree of protection against hepatitis B, and the vaccination coverage is relatively wide. I believe that most readers should have received the hepatitis B vaccine when they were young, and some have even received the "boosted" hepatitis B vaccine.

How is hepatitis B virus transmitted?

Hepatitis B virus exists in blood and body fluids, including saliva, semen, vaginal secretions and other body secretions. It can be seen that as long as you come into contact with blood or body fluids containing hepatitis B virus, you are likely to be infected. Therefore, the main transmission routes of hepatitis B virus are self-evident, sexual contact and blood contact, but there is a special transmission route that needs attention - mother-to-child transmission. It is very common for infants and young children to be infected by infected mothers after birth. After being infected with hepatitis B virus, infants and young children are more likely to develop chronic hepatitis than adults, so special attention should be paid. Here, we would like to mention the occasions where body fluid and blood transmission routes occur, such as sexual contact with infected people, transfusion of blood infected with hepatitis B virus, sharing needles with infected people or other daily necessities that are easy to damage the skin, such as toothbrushes, razors, etc. This is why hepatitis B virus can be easily transmitted horizontally within the family.

Well, after introducing hepatitis B and hepatitis B virus, we have a certain degree of understanding of hepatitis B patients. Then the question is, what does hepatitis B carrier mean? Carrying hepatitis B in the body? Why is it called hepatitis B carrier instead of hepatitis B patient? Are hepatitis B carriers hepatitis B patients? And so on. Now it's time to dispel the important rumors and explain to everyone how hepatitis B carriers are defined.

What is a hepatitis B carrier?

Hepatitis B carriers, that is, hepatitis B virus carriers, refer to those who are positive for hepatitis B surface antigen in the examination, and the positive continues for more than half a year, but the liver function is basically normal, and they rarely show clinical symptoms. Please note here that asymptomatic hepatitis B carriers are hepatitis B virus carriers, but do not show related symptoms, so they cannot be called "patients". But! Are asymptomatic hepatitis B carriers safe? The answer is no, asymptomatic hepatitis B carriers may also become symptomatic patients. Therefore, if the examination finds that you are an asymptomatic hepatitis B carrier, you must have regular follow-up examinations to avoid developing into a symptomatic patient and then worsening your condition. Generally, asymptomatic hepatitis B carriers with continuous normal liver tissue and liver function tests usually do not need special treatment. However, for hepatitis B carriers with varying degrees of liver tissue lesions, they need to be monitored and given symptomatic treatment to avoid missing the best treatment period.

How to live or work with an asymptomatic hepatitis B carrier?

First of all, through the previous introduction, we have a certain understanding of asymptomatic hepatitis B carriers. Hepatitis B carriers are like a "dormant volcano". Dormant volcanoes are also volcanoes, just dormant. Hepatitis B carriers are also easy to understand as people who do carry the hepatitis B virus in their bodies, but the virus is suppressed and does not replicate in the body, so there is no body fluid or blood transmission. So there is no need to worry about these asymptomatic hepatitis B carriers. You can get along with them normally, and they can also get married and have children normally. It's just that they have a greater risk of developing into hepatitis B patients than ordinary people who do not carry the hepatitis B virus.

How can hepatitis B carriers avoid becoming hepatitis B patients?

This is like how to prevent a dormant volcano from erupting. So how to prevent hepatitis B carriers from becoming hepatitis B patients? Of course, hepatitis B carriers need to pay attention to their daily diet and not let their immunity be low, which will give the hepatitis B virus in their bodies an opportunity to take advantage and allow it to replicate continuously. At the same time, hepatitis B patients need to pay more attention to not drinking alcohol. Ordinary people who drink excessively may develop hepatitis, not to mention hepatitis B carriers who are "dormant volcanoes". In addition, regular check-ups and maintaining a good and healthy mentality will help this "dormant volcano" continue to dormant.

Having said that, I believe that everyone can already distinguish between hepatitis B carriers and hepatitis B patients, as well as how to get along with this group of hepatitis B carriers. In fact, compared to our fear that hepatitis B carriers will infect us with the virus, hepatitis B carriers themselves should have greater psychological pressure, and they are more afraid of being treated like a virus by people around them. If there are hepatitis B carriers around us, pay attention to distinguish whether they are "dormant volcanoes" or "erupting volcanoes". If it is the former, there is no need to worry too much. Giving this group a normal social distance is the warmth we can give them. At the same time, if they are treated unfairly, because they do not enjoy the rights and interests of ordinary people because of their identity as hepatitis B carriers, we should also remind them to consider defending their rights instead of silently enduring.

References:

[1] Wang Guiqiang, Wang Fusheng, Zhuang Hui, et al. Guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B (2019 edition)[J]. Chinese Journal of Viral Diseases, 2020, 10(1): 1-25.

[2] Wang Yueqi, Pan Yuchen, Tao Xuerong, et al. Risk assessment of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus in pregnant women with serum markers, viral load and liver function[J]. International Journal of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases, 2021, 48(1): 7-12.

[3] Yu Huiqin. Psychological analysis and countermeasures for chronic asymptomatic hepatitis B virus carriers[J]. Dietary Science: Second Half of the Month, 2020, 3: 223.

[4] World Health Organization. Hepatitis B [EB/OL]. [2020-07-27]. https://www.who.int/zh/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-b.

[5] Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The harm of hepatitis B [EB/OL]. [2020-09-24]. http://cdcp.gd.gov.cn/fdgfa/content/post_3092564.html.