Fulminant viral hepatitis

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Vu Tan Phuc - Gastroenterologist - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Phu Quoc International General Hospital

1. What is fulminant viral hepatitis?

Fulminant hepatitis is liver disease that has progressed to a severe degree that can lead to liver failure or even death. According to statistics, fulminant hepatitis accounts for about 80% of deaths.
Fulminant hepatitis can occur in people with normal or a history of hepatitis B. There are many factors that cause acute flare-up of the disease, which is considered a more dangerous disease than hepatitis B.
It is difficult to determine the exact cause of fulminant hepatitis, but there are some Factors that promote disease development such as the patient's location, the body's immunity, the use of stimulants such as tobacco and alcohol.
Fulminant hepatitis flares up violently and affects a variety of other organs of the body. Then you will have kidney failure, blood clotting disorder, hepatic encephalopathy, hazy perception,...
The disease occurs at any age, sometimes the young subject of the disease will have the most intense reactions. .

2. Symptoms of fulminant hepatitis

Unlike common liver diseases, this is a sudden onset and extremely rapid onset. However, this disease also has typical symptoms of fulminant hepatitis:
The patient has signs of jaundice in the arms, neck and palms. The phenomenon of hemostasis disorder makes the patient unable to stop bleeding if there is an open wound. Appears brain diseases and coma, if this occurs, it is necessary to notify the doctor immediately because the possibility of death is very high. Patients with rapid breathing, rapid and very weak pulse may develop convulsions. Some patients also vomit blood, urinate blood and appear red bruises under the skin.

3. Patient's condition with fulminant viral hepatitis

The disease will flare up when the patient has symptoms of jaundice, but the disease can also occur in patients with acute liver failure for more than a week. When the patient thinks that the acute liver failure has been cured, the symptoms of fulminant hepatitis appear, two typical manifestations are coma and bleeding.
Coma takes place very quickly, at first the patient just faints, his arms twitch slightly, and then he goes into a complete coma right after that very quickly. The patient is breathing rapidly, the pulse is very fast and weak, which may be accompanied by convulsions. This phenomenon is called “hepatic coma”.
If bleeding occurs, the patient may vomit blood, have blood in the stool, the injections will also bleed,...

4. How to treat and prevent fulminant hepatitis

Because the disease occurs very suddenly and unexpectedly, the patient needs to prevent the disease as soon as there are suspicious symptoms. If you are diagnosed with hepatitis, you need immediate treatment according to your doctor's treatment regimen. In case of bleeding that is difficult to stop due to a clotting disorder, you need to immediately go to the nearest medical facility for timely first aid.

The main route of hepatitis infection is the gastrointestinal tract, so to prevent disease as well as avoid infection, we need to have a reasonable diet and lifestyle.
Some methods to prevent fulminant hepatitis are as follows:
Before eating and preparing food, wash hands with antibacterial soap; Similarly, after going to the toilet, you need to wash your hands thoroughly; Only eat food that is guaranteed to be cooked, drink and boil, the origin of the food is clear; After eating, if there is leftover food, it should be carefully preserved; Absolutely do not eat unsanitary or expired food; Get regular medical check-ups for early detection of suspicious symptoms. Fulminant hepatitis is an extremely severe liver disease that directly affects the health of the patient. The disease progresses very quickly and unexpectedly, so if not treated promptly, the mortality rate is extremely high up to 80%.
If there are initial symptoms of fulminant viral hepatitis, you must conduct examination and treatment immediately, so as not to prolong the disease, which can lead to life-threatening danger.

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