How to Treat Children With Hepatitis
How you treat children with hepatitis depends on the type of hepatitis infection they have and the symptoms they are exhibiting. The most crucial element in treating hepatitis in children is monitoring the liver for damage. If damage or scarring is detected, you may need to treat the disease more aggressively. The following steps will help you understand how to care for an infected child.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
-
-
1
Determine what type of hepatitis your child is infected with. Your pediatrician will usually perform a series of diagnostic tests to determine the severity of the disease and whether there are any underlying causes.
-
2
Know that there is no approved treatment for hepatitis A, but that most people, including children, live with the infection without ever experiencing any symptoms.
-
3
Consider using interferon to boost the immune system and lamivudine to inhibit the virus. Both drugs are approved to treat hepatitis B in children, and your doctor may prescribe one or both to reduce liver inflammation.
-
4
Explore the options available for treating hepatitis C in children. Only four drugs have been approved to treat hepatitis C in adults, and little testing has been done with children.
-
5
Check into possible experimental treatments. You may find several studies aimed at discovering acceptable treatments for hepatitis in children.
-
6
Seek out a pediatric gastroenterologist or hepatologist who shares your philosophy for treating your child. Since hepatitis is treated on a case-by-case basis, some doctors will not prescribe any medication unless there is damage to the liver. Others try to eradicate the virus from the child's system, even if there is no significant liver damage.
-
7
Know that your child will need to have several blood tests to monitor the progression of the disease and the success of any treatment. If the child experiences six months of negative test results after therapy is stopped, he has demonstrated a sustained response to treatment.
-
8
Visit the Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases website for information on treating children with hepatitis. See the Resources section below for a link.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Hepatitis in children often clears up during adolescence, but it is wise to continue status checks to detect relapses.
Hepatitis B is the only one of the three major types of hepatitis for which drugs are approved for treating children.
Most medications prescribed to treat hepatitis have several side effects, which may be worse than the symptoms of the disease.
