Hepatitis B
...gotten it? Was it from having sex without wearing a condom? Or using dirty drug or body piercing needles? Maybe it was from using an infected friends toothbrush or razor? You want to know more information, and this is what he tells you: Hepatitis B is a virus. It messes up your liver and makes it very unhealthy. You need a healthy liver because your liver fights infections and other health hazards in your body. It removes unwanted wastes from the blood and stores energy for when you need it. The virus can be transferred person to person by having sex with an infected person without the use of a condom. Using dirty drug, body piercing, and tattoo needles can also cause it. Sharing a toothbrush or razor and getting pricked by a needle with the blood of a Hepatitis B holder are two more ways to catch the unwanted virus. A drug called interferon can treat the virus. The vaccine is given through shots, and most people are treated for 4 months between he ages of 11 and 15. In heavier cases, surgery is necessary. The surgery involves a liver transplant, which means you will have your failing liver replaced by that of a donor. In 1991 and estimated $700 million dollars of medical work and money was lost due to this virus. In the United States, the incidence of this disease is from 140,000-320,000 infections per year. Eight thousand four hundred -19,000 of these people are hospitalized each yea...