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Had Jaundice In Childhood. Is It Same As Hepatitis B And Can It Be Transmitted To Baby During Pregnancy?
Question: HI DOCTOR GRIEF,
wHEN i WAS A CHILD ABOUT 11 YEARS OLD i CONTACTED yELLOW jAUNDICE FROM A FAMILY MEMBER.
IS THAT THE sameTHING AS hepatitis B? And if so is that something i can pass on to my children when I was pregnet?. I am now 63 years old . I was concerned about passing this to my children regarding liver damage.
wHEN i WAS A CHILD ABOUT 11 YEARS OLD i CONTACTED yELLOW jAUNDICE FROM A FAMILY MEMBER.
IS THAT THE sameTHING AS hepatitis B? And if so is that something i can pass on to my children when I was pregnet?. I am now 63 years old . I was concerned about passing this to my children regarding liver damage.
Brief Answer:
At your case, HBV infection is hardly possible.
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Thank you for the query.
Jaundice (which appears as a yellow skin, yellow eyes, dark urine) is just a symptom of liver issue. Please note that jaundice is caused by increased bilirubin level in the blood stream and tissues. Normally, bilirubin is made from dead read blood cells (indirect bilirubin) and transported to the liver. Liver connects indirect bilirubin with glucuronic acid what makes bilirubin direct. Such connected bilirubin can be secreted to the bile ducts and to the small intestine.
In case of a factor appearance which disturbs this complicated process, bilirubin can not be property secreted to the intestine and leads to elevated bilirubin in the blood stream (jaundice).
So in simple words, there is many diseases which can cause jaundice and it does not have to be HBV (cirrhosis due to alcohol abuse, bile ducts obstruction due to gallstones, pancreas tumor, medicines intoxication, liver cirrhosis due to fatty liver, and viruses as well.
Moreover, HBV can be transmitted through blood direct contact (blood transfusions, wound to wound contact) or through intercourse. So your blood needs to have direct contact with infected person blood. So its hardly possible to get infected by a family member as long as you wont get his/her blood transfusion.
If the mother is HBV infected, during the pregnancy there is very low risk of virus transmission to the baby. However during childbirth it is possible as a baby has direct contact with mothers blood.
Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.
At your case, HBV infection is hardly possible.
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Thank you for the query.
Jaundice (which appears as a yellow skin, yellow eyes, dark urine) is just a symptom of liver issue. Please note that jaundice is caused by increased bilirubin level in the blood stream and tissues. Normally, bilirubin is made from dead read blood cells (indirect bilirubin) and transported to the liver. Liver connects indirect bilirubin with glucuronic acid what makes bilirubin direct. Such connected bilirubin can be secreted to the bile ducts and to the small intestine.
In case of a factor appearance which disturbs this complicated process, bilirubin can not be property secreted to the intestine and leads to elevated bilirubin in the blood stream (jaundice).
So in simple words, there is many diseases which can cause jaundice and it does not have to be HBV (cirrhosis due to alcohol abuse, bile ducts obstruction due to gallstones, pancreas tumor, medicines intoxication, liver cirrhosis due to fatty liver, and viruses as well.
Moreover, HBV can be transmitted through blood direct contact (blood transfusions, wound to wound contact) or through intercourse. So your blood needs to have direct contact with infected person blood. So its hardly possible to get infected by a family member as long as you wont get his/her blood transfusion.
If the mother is HBV infected, during the pregnancy there is very low risk of virus transmission to the baby. However during childbirth it is possible as a baby has direct contact with mothers blood.
Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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