Hepatitis treatment depends on the type, severity and evolution of the disease.
There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A and E. It is recommended an easy diet and restricted activity, as well as avoiding alcohol intake and drugs use during the recovery period.
Chronic hepatitis B can be cured (only in ? cases) with pegylated interferon-alpha. Treatment lasts six months. Alternative treatment includes other viral suppressors, such as lamivudine and adefovir. Individuals exposed to hepatitis B infection risk (healthcare workers, sexual partners of infected persons, newborns with infected mother, etc) should be vaccinated.
The most effective treatment for hepatitis C is a combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Unfortunately, this treatment is not effective in all the cases and patients variably tolerate this therapy. It is important to notice that even moderate alcohol intake seriously aggravated existing hepatitis C and accelerated its evolution to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Another option of treatment for patients with severe hepatitis evolution, leading to liver failure is liver transplantation.

Prevention of viral hepatitis is an important issue, since viral hepatitis may have severe evolution and complications and the treatment has limited efficacy.
Prevention of hepatitis A and E includes good personal hygiene and immunization of travelers to endemic areas.
Body fluids (blood, semen, saliva, etc.) of patients with hepatitis B and C are considered contagious. Thus, infection prevention includes protection during sexual intercourse, avoiding repeated use of needles and syringes, tattooing and piercing only at professional salons, etc.
An important step in hepatitis B prevention is vaccination in endemic areas. Hepatitis B vaccine includes three intramuscular injections: at baseline, at 1 month and at 6 months.