168 chapter 8: Sexual health
Treatment:
There is no medicine that will help. In fact, taking some medicines can hurt your
liver even more.
Rest and drink lots of liquids. If you just do not want to eat, try drinking fruit
juice, broth, or vegetable soup. To control vomiting, sip a cola or ginger
drink. Drinking herbal teas like chamomile can also help. Ask the
older women in your community about which herbs work best.
When you do feel like eating, do not eat a lot of protein
from animals (meat, fish, eggs) because it makes the
damaged liver work too hard. Also avoid food
cooked with animal fat or vegetable oil.
Instead, eat mainly fruits and fresh or
steamed vegetables and only a little
protein. Do not drink any alcohol for at
least 6 months.
Prevention:
The hepatitis B and C viruses can both pass from person to person through sex,
injections with non-sterile needles, transfusions of infected blood, and from mother
to baby at birth. To prevent passing hepatitis to others, always use a condom during
sex (see pages 181 to 182, and pages 189 to 192) and make sure needles, syringes,
and tools used for cutting or piercing the skin (such as for tattoos, circumcision,
scarring, female genital cutting) are always boiled before use.
The hepatitis A virus passes from the stool of one person to the
mouth of another person by way of contaminated water or food.
To prevent others from getting sick, it is important to make sure
the sick person’s stools go down a latrine or toliet, or are buried,
and to make sure the sick person is very clean. Everyone—the sick
person, family members, caregivers—must try to stay clean and
wash their hands often.
Vaccines are now available for hepatitis A and B, but they
may be expensive or may not be available everywhere. If you
are able to get a vaccination while you are pregnant, it will
prevent the virus from passing from you to the baby.
A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities 2007