blood system due to the infected liver. Hep. A does not have any special medications or antibiotics that can be used to treat or prevent this unpleasant virus. Some ways of avoiding this viral infection include washing the hands very carefully and not eating food or drink of others. People living in the same house or having close contact should clean the area very thoroughly. When a person has contracted and then recovered from this virus, he or she is now immune for the remainder of his or her life and will not carry the virus. The virus can affect anyone, but young children and older adults are more susceptible. People can transmit the virus directly to each other or indirectly by ingesting an infected persons food or drink. Then the person will ingest the contaminated food or drink. The disease can also be spread by contaminated drinking water, blood, body fluids and tissue, and intravenous needles used by drug users. The virus is contagious for a week before symptoms are experienced and continuing until recovery from the jaundice symptom (Hepatitis A 1996 pg. 1). The purpose of a persons liver is to filter out harmful toxins that get into the blood. An example of the function of the liver is similar to the use of a noodle strainer. The noodles are mixed with the water like the toxin mixed with the blood. The strainer removes the noodles from the water like the liver removes the toxin from the blood. The noodles stay in, but the water goes through. If a person were not to have a liver or it isn't functioning in the proper manner the person would suffer extreme blood poisoning and die. Hepatitis B can result in such malfunction of the liver. Hep. B causes the liver to become inflamed. Usually the people that get infected with Hep. B can fight off the virus, but there are some individuals that are unable to fight. This would include people infected with HIV or AIDS. The symptoms of Hep. B are very similar to Hep. A, loss of appetite, n...
