What are the early symptoms of hepatitis?

There are different types of hepatitis, and the symptoms of hepatitis are also different. Hepatitis A patients will show fever, general weakness, and gastrointestinal symptoms, while hepatitis B patients will often feel physically weak and easily fatigued.

Hepatitis A

It is a type of hepatitis transmitted through the digestive tract, characterized by an acute onset. Before the onset, there are often fever, general weakness, obvious digestive tract symptoms, decreased appetite, nausea, greasy food, and diarrhea, followed by yellow urine, yellow skin and sclera, vomiting, pain in the liver area, and abnormal liver function. Common symptoms include hepatocyte degeneration and necrosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and cell proliferation in the portal area of ​​the liver.

Hepatitis B

Patients feel physically weak, easily fatigued, and lack of energy. The reasons may be damaged liver function, reduced food intake, food digestion and absorption disorders, and insufficient nutrient intake. On the other hand, due to inflammation, consumption increases, and the ingested substances cannot be fully metabolized to meet the body's needs due to damaged liver function. The third aspect may be the mental and psychological stress caused by hepatitis B, which affects rest and sleep. Insomnia and nightmares may be related to this.

Hepatitis C

It is mainly caused by blood transfusion. Currently, it is common among drug addicts who share syringes. The incubation period of hepatitis C (after blood transfusion) is 30-83 days, with an average of 52.1 days. Patients may remain asymptomatic for years. Patients with chronic hepatitis C often experience fatigue of varying severity, which can sometimes affect their work and daily life. Secondly, it may manifest as discomfort in the right upper abdomen, and patients often complain of a feeling of heaviness in the right upper abdomen. Other symptoms include nausea and joint pain, and jaundice rarely occurs. It is worth noting that the presence or severity of symptoms is not proportional to the development of liver disease.

Hepatitis D

The transmission route is similar to that of hepatitis B, mainly through blood transfusion and blood products, and infection may also occur through daily contact. Hepatitis E is a relatively uncommon type of hepatitis. The sources of infection are hepatitis E patients and latently infected persons. The hepatitis E virus is transmitted orally. Patients often experience symptoms such as loss of appetite, aversion to oil, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, easy tiredness, pain in the liver area, and yellow urine.