Every year, World Hepatitis Day is observed on 28th July to remind the world about the dangers posed by viral hepatitis. This viral causes inflammation in the liver that can aggravate into other dangerous conditions including cancer in the liver. The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the theme of World Hepatitis Day this year is ‘Hepatitis-free future’. Accordingly, WHO has urged member countries to cooperate with each other with the aim of eliminating viral hepatitis completely by 2030. These are major initiatives taken by a global institution like WHO but there is a lot that doctors in Arlington VA and other places can do. Viral hepatitis spreads from one person to another There are five different strains of Hepatitis and these are classified alphabetically as A, B, C, D and E. All of these can get transferred from one person to another in different ways. For instance, sexual intercourse with an affected person, sharing infected needles or exposure to infected blood, are some of the common causes. Of course, healthcare centers take a lot of precautions these days, but viral infections can still happen due to some oversight somewhere. It is a lot easier to get tested these days and it is possible even in an urgent care walk in clinic. When do you suspect hepatitis infection? If you suspect hepatitis infection due to some action like unprotected sex with a stranger that you fear, could cause a viral infection, do not delay in getting yourself tested. However, hepatitis can also infect a person inadvertently wherein s/he has not done anything that is known to be a cause of viral infection. You may experience symptoms like pain in the stomach, low fever, dark-colored urine, pale-colored stool, skin color becomes yellow, pain in the joints, fatigue and tiredness, and loss of appetite. In such cases, doctors in Arlington VA will recommend an immediate test. Urgent care clinics conduct hepatitis testing There are different levels of urgent care clinics starting from those that can compare with hospitals to the smallest walk-in clinics manned by nurses or doctor’s assistants. If you have any of the symptoms of hepatitis or if you suspect hepatitis infection after any action like unprotected sex, visit an urgent care walk in clinic for hepatitis test. This is quite unlike the emergency room of hospitals for which you will not get an appointment before 24 days. Here, you will not be required to wait for more than 30 minutes before being seen by a doctor. Hepatitis is curable if it is detected and treated early but for the Hepatitis C variant there is no vaccine as yet. There a people who do not experience any of the symptoms of the virus but carry it in their bodies throughout their lives. In the United States alone, close to a million people are living with hepatitis B while nearly 2.5 million people are infected with chronic hepatitis C virus. For a country like the US, these are not small numbers for a viral disease that can spread from one person to another. One wonders what the situation in lesser developed countries would be like. The WHO’s goal of eliminating hepatitis completely by 2030 should be fast-tracked with greater cooperation among nations.
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