Introduction
Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver with the hepatitis B virus. In 90% of cases, such infection heals spontaneously without therapy. In the following, you will learn more about the specific therapy of a hepatitis B infection.
How is hepatitis B infection treated?
In most cases, therapy for acute hepatitis B infection is not necessary, as in 90% of cases a complete cure is expected. A light diet, bed rest and general hygiene measures to protect the environment from the infection are the general therapeutic measures. In the case of a chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus, there are now some antiviral drugs available, so-called virusstatics.
Depending on the stage of hepatitis B disease and viral activity, antiviral therapy is indicated. If the patient is infected with hepatitis B, he is initially in the acute phase of the hepatitis disease. In 2/3 of the cases, this phase proceeds completely without symptoms and thus often goes unnoticed.
However, 1/3 of the patients show symptoms such as jaundice or general flu-like symptoms such as abdominal discomfort, tiredness or loss of appetite. In the acute stage of hepatitis B, the treatment is purely symptomatic, i.e. patients with symptoms should primarily be on bed rest or physical rest and should support the liver by eating healthy food and avoiding alcoholic beverages. In most cases, the symptoms recede after a maximum of 3-6 weeks.
The hepatitis B disease heals in 95% of cases without further consequences. In the rarest cases, acute hepatitis is so severe that patients must be treated with medication because the liver begins to fail. In such cases, antiviral therapy with interferons or antivirals is used.
As already mentioned, hepatitis B infection can become chronic in about 5% of cases, which means that the immune system cannot fight the viruses sufficiently and they remain in the liver. Chronic hepatitis B has two drug approaches. Either interferons are used – typically PEG-inteferon-alpha – which support the immune system in fighting the virus.
PEG-Inteferon-alpha is administered once a week as an injection. If this therapy is not possible or if there is already advanced liver damage, antivirals in the form of nucleoside or nucleotide analogues are used. These drugs can be taken daily in the form of tablets and interfere with the multiplication of the hepatitis B viruses. If the drug therapy fails, liver failure may occur and a liver transplant must be considered. More details on these treatment options can be found in the corresponding paragraphs of this article.
