I was wondering if some people could help me out with some information about hepititis A. My room mate at the seminary, we just found out that's what she's been sick with for the past couple weeks. The doctor told me it is very likley that I caught it. I have to go back to the office on sunday to get this golbulin something or other shot. Arg, why didn't I get vaccinated!

First Lice and then this? Good personal hygiene and proper sanitation can prevent both...something ya not telling us?

Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. It's spread by person to person by putting something in the mouth that has been contaminated with the stool of the person with hepatitis A and is called "fecal-oral" transmission. Casual contact does not spread the virus.

Average incubation of the virus is about 28 days. Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, nausea, dark urine, jaundice, and abdominal discomfort. There is a blood test to determine if you have hepatitis A. It's called "IgM anti-HAV" but what it sounds like the doc will be giving you Immune Globulin to prevent you from getting it. Immune Globulin is used to prevent the infection and is either given before exposure to hepatitis A or given to people who have been exposed. It's given within 2 weeks after exposure.

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First Lice and then this? Good personal hygiene and proper sanitation can prevent both...something ya not telling us?

I'm living in a dorm, in a trailer that is pretty run down, in the middle of no where. How's that?

Anyways, I got the immonuglobulin shot, so I don't know if I had hepititis or not. What I'm wondering now is, can I donate blood?

Word of advice - Move.

Something is dreadfully wrong when you are getting Hep A from your living conditions. Read again how Hep A is transmitted - someone is not behaving themselves, someone is playing games with your stuff, cups, toothbrush, fork - something that you put in your mouth has been contaminated with fecal matter. Think about that. Something isn't right there.

I don't care how run down a place is, if you keep it clean even just using water to wash away the dirt and grime you are less likely to pick up these sorts of things. If those areound you are pigs, wallowing in their own fecal matter it sounds like to me, this is a health risk to you and you need to get away ASAP.

I don't think people who have been exposed to Hepatitis can give blood.

Like David said, living in a dump has nothing to do with getting Hep A. I've lived in some pretty nasty, bug infested crap holes in my time, and have never once been exposed to anything that is transmitted by fecal contamination.

In order for you to get this--and I am going to be graphic here to make the point--someone's poop was on something you put in your mouth. Stop right now and think about that.

If your living conditions are truly so squalid that you feel you honestly can't avoid having poop on things that go into your mouth, no matter what you do, then you need to talk to someone at the school you attend and insist on another place to live. There are many worse diseases than Hep A that you will (note, I said WILL) catch if you continue to consume fecal matter, some of which cannot be cured and will kill you.

If you're smart enough to attend college and this religious school, then you are smart enough to figure out that eating poop is a very bad idea and something you should take all lengths to avoid doing.

(Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go barf.)

A toothbrush sitting on a perfectly clean countertop is exposed to fecal matter by way of a toilet flushing... it isn't as hard as you might imagine to be exposed to someone's infected fecal matter because a toilet flush is reported to release thousands of particulates from the toilet into the air.

Unless you all flush with the seat down then you are likely sharing your cohabitants fecal matter when you brush your teeth.

Yummy.

Or if you flush with the seat down, and rinse your toothbrush off before using it.

Having Hepatitis A does not mean that someone has been eating poop. Yes, it does involve feces, but as Aminator said, feces is spread around easier than we might like to think. Furthermore, Leppi didn't say she had it, but that because her roommate had it, her doctor recommended that she get Globulin. The reason her doctor says it's likely that she has it to is because it's quite possible her roommate got it from the drinking water or from fruits and veggies that haven't been properly washed.

Hepatitis A

How to prevent Heptatitis A:

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1. Thoroughly rinse vegetables with water and dry; use a mild soap on certain produce, at your discretion.

2. Peel fruits and vegetables before eating

3. Wash hands and utensils being used

4. If eating out, look around the restaurant. Does it look clean? How about the tables, utensils, and floor? Also take a look at the people serving the food. Do they look clean? You need to use your own judgement and make a decision.

5. If traveling internationally to developing countries, don't drink the water or use ice cubes.

6. If you do find that you have been exposed, seek Health Care as soon as possible.

7. Follow any recommendations from the state health department or Center for Disease Control about possible exposure to Hepatitis A

By the way, according to that site, 1/3rd of Americans show evidence of past infection. Since I'm pretty sure that 1/3rd of Americans do not eat poop or live in the extremely squalid conditions that some of your posts are describing, it is clear that one need not be living in completely disgusting conditions to get it. Aminator is right. So stop embarrassing the poor girl!

If the way to contract hep A is for fecal matter to get into your mouth, then yes, if she was exposed, she ate poop.

She is the one who went on about how squalid her living conditions are and that she can't avoid any of the things happening to her because it is so dirty there. I was trying to impress upon her that she can, and probably will, become very ill if she doesn't do something about her living conditions pretty soon.

Once again, sorry I cared about Leppi. I must have forgotten that we aren't allowed to go by anything she says without censor.

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Originally posted by MommyTimesTwo:
Once again, sorry I cared about Leppi. I must have forgotten that we aren't allowed to go by anything she says without censor.

MX2, I wasn't yelling at you. And I don't understand your last sentence at all.

Anyway, 33% of Americans have had it. There is periodically an epidemic. If it's around, it's easy to get. That's all I was saying.

No Sarai, you probably wouldn't understand it, and I'm sorry I said it in a way that sounded directed to you.

If 33% of American have it, we can assume the majority would not have it if they took simple precautions like washing their hands, closing the toilet lid before flushing, rinsing their toothbrush before using it, things like that. Rather than complain about how dirty the house is, clean it up.

MX2 - that's true. It's easy to get, but also pretty easy to prevent.

I personally have never had any form of Hepatitis, but I remember the places I lived in when I was in college. I shudder to think of it! I imagine such illnesses must be somewhat more common at that stage in life.

Unless you are vaccinated, which I and my children are.

The people that I have known with hepatitis A got it from eating in a restaurant. A dirty house doesn't usually make people sick. About head lice: they usually get into clean hair, not dirty. They can't stick to dirty, oily hair. A louse can hop into hair from close contact with someone (or from something like a movie seat) and has nothing to do with cleanliness. They are very hard to get rid of.

Dixie

If the restaurant workers washed their hands and the food they prepared, no contamination would have happened. It's such an easy illness to prevent.

I worked in health care for five years. I directly handled the feces of other adults, many of whom were infected with hep A, on a daily basis. I have seen infections spread from aides and/or nurses using the toilet and not washing their hands, or changing a patient and not wearing gloves. Once from a dietary aide using the toilet and not washing her hands, AND not wearing gloves! But I have never seen anyone who washes thier hands and follows universal precautions, as we all should, all the time, become ill with the disease.

Comments about cleaning house were made in response to Leppi's complaints about the house she is living in being dirty.

I'm sorry I did not make myself clear. We have pretty good hygiene in my caravn (trailer). I assumed it spread pretty easily because as soon as I told her my roomate had it, she told me to get immonuglobulin immediatly. In my seminary there were a total of two girls who had Hepititis A. Both had been babysitting in a small farming settelment about a 5 minute drive from the seminary. Apparently Hepititis was going around there, and the two of them caught it somehow, overthere. Of my roomates, two of us got vaccinated, two didn't. No one else in the seminary got hepititis.