What is involved in hepatitis B screening?
Screening hepatitis B usually involves drawing blood from a patient who is then sent to the analysis laboratory. Three separate tests can be carried out on the blood to diagnose whether the individual is infected. If the test results are positive, additional blood may be required for the second set of tests that indicate the severity of the infection and whether there has been permanent liver damage.
Hepatitis B is an inflammation of the liver infections. This organ filter blood for the body, fights infections and helps in the processing and digestion of nutrients. Permanent liver damage can cause failure and in some cases it is fatal. Infections are spreading by sharing body fluids or birth from an infected mother to a child.
Blood test is the most commonly used method for performing hepatitis B.The standard tests are used to determine whether an individual currently has an infection, had it earlier, is immune to this or received a vaccine against it. These screenings are looking for antigens or antibodies of hepatitis B in the blood and doctors can use results to determine the presence or lack of any infection. If this type of screening is performed at an early stage of infection, hepatitis B can be often treated and cured before the patient experiences any symptoms.
Depending on the results of the initial screening of hepatitis B, additional tests may be required. Two least invasive means of further testing are blood tests. The first test is looking for a different type of antigen in the blood that is produced by infection. When high levels of this antigen are present, known as e antigen, it suggests that the individual is very infectious and can give it to anyone who comes into contact with who is not immune. Second test search for DNA levels hepatitis B whose results are used for hundredsNew effectiveness of ongoing medicinal therapy.
When screening hepatitis B returns positive results and the individual is intended as highly infectious, liver biopsy may be required. This procedure includes inserting a thin needle directly into the liver through the skin. A small tissue sample is taken from the organ and analyzed. Hepatitis B tends to directly attack the liver and biopsy can help doctors identify the best treatment and whether the liver is in danger of failure.