A few days ago, I had dinner with my friends. One of them had hepatitis B two years ago. Everyone talked and laughed, seemingly as if nothing had happened. However, their eyes were intentionally or unintentionally aimed at the [chopstick brothers] of their friends who had hepatitis B, fearing to eat the food they had clipped.
There are more than 100 million hepatitis B patients and hepatitis B virus carriers in China, which is equivalent to one in every ten people. You can hardly avoid eating with them.
How does hepatitis B invade your body?
People can be infected with hepatitis B, the main culprit is hepatitis B virus, which enters the liver through blood circulation.
Hepatitis B virus is a [hepatophilic virus], that is to say, it likes liver cells. We often see in spy movies that secret tissues will answer some secret codes when connecting, and those who can accept each other with secret codes. The recognition of hepatitis B virus and liver cells is very similar to the behavior of secret codes we saw in movies.
The way they use the secret code may be realized by something called [hepatitis B virus receptor]. It is the liver cell surface receptor that corresponds to the [secret code] of the virus that enables hepatitis B virus to smoothly enter the liver cells and then utilize the vegetative growth and reproduction of the liver cells.
Hepatitis B, really won’t enter from the mouth
The cells of human oral cavity, esophagus and gastrointestinal tract do not have the [secret code] mentioned above for hepatitis B virus, that is to say, there is no specific hepatitis B virus receptor on the surface, and hepatitis B virus cannot be introduced into the cells, thus lacking the preconditions for parasitism of hepatitis B virus.
In addition, the complete surface of the digestive tract has its own strong immune system, which, like a military defense line equipped with biological and chemical weapons, can prevent hepatitis B virus from entering the blood circulation from the digestive tract to a certain extent.
Moreover, the growth and reproduction of hepatitis B virus still need the help of many substances, which are found in the liver but not in the digestive tract.
Therefore, even if you unfortunately eat hepatitis B virus, don’t panic: the virus is either killed in your intestinal tract or discharged into the toilet.
Japanese and American Hepatitis B Carriers Can Engage in Catering Industry
The scene where friends ate was a misunderstanding.
There are five types of viral hepatitis, namely hepatitis a, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D and hepatitis E. There are indeed hepatitis a and hepatitis E transmitted by diet, but they are hepatitis a and hepatitis E-after treatment, they will be cured in a few months and will hardly become chronic, while other types of hepatitis will not be transmitted by diet.
In the early days, Chinese public health institutions did not strictly distinguish viral hepatitis, which also led to discrimination and misunderstanding of hepatitis B.
In fact, no matter acute hepatitis B infection, chronic hepatitis B carriers, or [big three positive] [small three positive]-hepatitis B virus will not spread from the mouth. You know, in the United States and Japan, even people engaged in the catering industry do not need to be tested.
Hepatitis B does not enter from the mouth, where does it enter?
Until now, there have been no real reports of hepatitis B infection caused by eating together or kissing. Although we often say that the disease enters from the mouth, hepatitis B really does not enter from the mouth. In addition, in daily life, talking to each other, shaking hands, hugging, kissing and other behaviors will not infect hepatitis B.
Blood and body fluid transmission, Vertical transmission from mother to child is the main route of transmission of hepatitis B virus. Some behaviors that can damage skin or mucous membrane, Such as sharing shavers, toothbrushes, The use of hepatitis B virus contaminated needles (such as acupuncture needles, ear piercing needles, tattoo needles), and sex life are likely to infect hepatitis B virus. If you want to live with hepatitis B patients, remember to go to a regular hospital or epidemic prevention station to get hepatitis B vaccine, and regularly test blood to check whether there are antibodies against hepatitis B virus in your body.