Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook

5-74

* See Infectious Diseases for detailed discussions of Hepatitis.

** Must also consider gallbladder disease with acute pain (not commonly jaundiced), pancreatic

cancer with painless jaundice, and many other diseases of the liver and hepatobiliary system.

*** Enteric precautions include use of gloves, gowns or other barriers

when in contact with patient, patient waste, clothes, or linens.

**** Universal precautions include use of gloves, gown, mask and eyewear (or face shield) when

drawing blood or coming into contact with blood or other body fluids.

***** Chronic infection may be treated with

interferon

based regimens.

ID: Viral Infections: Acute Hepatitis *

DiseaseRoute ofacquisition(common)Precautions to avoid spread Prevention Treatment(acute)

Handwashing, proper food preparation and waste disposal; immunization and/or immune globulin prior to or during outbreak of Hepatitis A; isolation of infected patients

Most not spread person-to-person; disease-specic: including avoiding vectors

Hepatitis A/Hepatitis E

Hepatitis B/Hepatitis D

Hepatitis C Blood Universal precautions Avoid exposure to blood Supportive*****

Supportive*****

Supportive

Disease-specic; usually supportive

Toxins (i.e., Amanita mushrooms), Drugs (i.e., acetaminophen), or AlcoholIngestion Not spread person-to-person Avoidance of the specic toxin or drug Supportive

Other Important Causes **

Other Infections (i.e., leptospirosis, yellow fever)Disease-specic Disease-specic: including immunization (yellow fever) and chemoprophylaxis (lepto-spirosis)

Blood, perinatal, sexual Universal precautions ****Avoid unprotected sexual contact, and exposure to blood; immunization and/or immune globulin for Hepatitis B

Oral-fecalEnteric precautions ***

LTC Duane Hospenthal, MC, USA

Table 5-2