Hepatitis becomes global healthcare issue

Shifa International Hospital Chief of Medicine and Gastroenterology Dr Nasir Khokhar said that hepatitis had become a devastating global healthcare issue. Around a million people died each year from hepatitis B (HBV) infection, making it the 9th leading cause of death in the world. 350 million people world-wide were long-term HBV carriers. Around 75 percent of these carriers were from Asia Pacific, and 25 percent from the rest of the world.
Khokar said, “Up to 25 percent patients die due to HBV or related complications.” He was addressing a hepatitis awareness seminar organized by Shifa International Hospital in collaboration with Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) on Thursday
He said that people in Asia Pacific acquired HBV and hepatitis C (HCV) through blood transfusion and transplants. The patients’ children, individuals with multiple sexual partners, intravenous drug users, healthcare workers and prisoners were especially vulnerable to HBV and HCV infection, he added. Highlighting clinical features of the chronic liver disease, Khokhar said that fatigue, vascular spiders, enlarged or shrunken liver, enlarged spleen, finger clubbing, ascites and bruising were some of the symptoms.
He was of the view that HBV infections could be prevented by vaccination. He urged people infected with HBV and HCV to start effective and timely treatment to avoid end stage liver disease like liver cancer and liver failure. Gastroenterologist Dr Salih said that many cases of hepatitis A occurred in community-wide outbreaks and no risk factors were identified for most cases. “It has highest attack rate in 5-14 year olds and children serve as reservoir of infection,” he added. Contaminated water and food were the main causes of hepatitis A. Flies could carry diseases such as hepatitis A, typhoid, amoebic dysentery and polio.
Salih stressed the need to adopt a healthy and hygienic lifestyle to avoid hepatitis A and E. He said that young children should be vaccinated for hepatitis A. However vaccines for hepatitis E were currently at an experimental stage. He said that to prevent hepatitis E, people, especially travellers, should avoid drinking unpurified water, unhygienic food and fruits and vegetables that were not peeled or prepared themselves.