Hepatitis continues to be a major health scourge in the State. It is claiming lives at a time when the disease is preventable.
While many cases are identifiable, and effective mechanisms are in place to address them, hepatitis in the virus strains of B and C are different. Doctors term Hepatitis C a “silent epidemic” because most people with the illness do not know they are infected.
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis A cases have been on the rise in the State, with data showing Hepatitis B claiming more lives. Though the number of infections shows a decline, they are perhaps only cases that have been detected, according to a senior Health Department official.
While Hepatitis A has a fecal-oral route and is spread through unhygienic food, poor personal hygiene, and contaminated water, Hepatitis B and C are spread through body fluids and blood.
On World Hepatitis Day (July 28), specialists warned that Hepatitis infections led to 3,50,000 preventable deaths annually, primarily due to HCV-associated cirrhosis and HCC.
Every year, thousands of people in India are afflicted with Hepatitis C, summing up to an estimated one in every 100 of the population infected with HCV.
Dr. Philip Augustine, gastroenterologist, PVS Memorial Hospital, during an awareness programme said Hepatitis-C is a long-term disease, and patients get to know about the infection only during the final stages. The infection is often undiagnosed because it remains asymptomatic for decades.
“Compared to Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B can be detected, and preventive vaccinations are available for it. In the State, one per cent of the population could be affected with HCV, and around 1.4 per cent are affected with Hepatitis B.
“While effective treatment is available now to cure the illness with12-24 weeks of treatment, the important part is to get the infected people know their status,” said Dr. Mathew Philip of PVS Memorial Hospital.
