‘Prevention is better than cure for hepatitis’

On the eve on Hepatitis Day, health experts claimed that unsafe injections, blood transfusions with blood and blood products that have not been screened are major carriers of hepatitis B and C. They claimed that of the total number of injections used across the world, India contributes to 25-30 per cent of the total load and over 60 per cent of these are unsafely used.

Associate professor of gastroenterology at GB Pant Hospital, Dr Siddharth Srivastava said, “Safe injection protocols laid down by WHO should be followed by healthcare practitioners. However, patients too need to be vigilant and know of safe injection practices, like the use of sterile, single-use, reuse prevention syringes. Staff should wash their hands before administering the injection and they should clean the area of the injection adequately.”

According to gastroenterologist, Fortis Escorts Liver and Digestive Diseases Institute, Dr Manav Wadhawan, Hepatitis-C (HCV) is 10 times more infectious than HIV. It is asymptomatic, which means it does not exhibit any obvious symptoms of sickness in its initial stages. If it does, it can be easily diagnosed with a blood test and treated

“About 80 per cent of people who have hepatitis C may not exhibit any symptom for years and 50-70 per cent of adults who get this infection, will get chronic hepatitis C, which occurs over a long period. Of these, 55-85 per cent develop liver cirrhosis (scarring). Another three to five per cent may get liver cancer or their livers may fail unless they get a liver transplant,” said Dr Wadhawan.

Experts claim that anyone can become infected with hepatitis B virus at anytime during their lives so people should take preventive measures. “Hepatitis B virus is spread by contact with an infected person’s blood or certain body fluids. Babies can get hepatitis B virus from their infected mothers at birth or even if one shares their personal care items with an infected person. So its better to take a preventive measure, people should get themselves checked if they are born in regions of the world with medium to high rates of hepatitis B infants born to infected mothers,” said gastroentrologist Dr Ashok Dalal of Primus hospital.

Experts also claim that Hepatitis might also causes infertility among males. “The hepatitis virus negatively impacts spermatogenesis in males thereby significantly lowering sperm count, its motility, viability and morphology. Hepatitis contributes to male infertility majorly. However, hepatitis has no effect on the normal functioning of the ovarian or uterine glands, it does not contribute to female infertility as such compared to males,” said medical director Dr Shobha Gupta, Mother’s Lap IVF Centre.

Approximately 5,00,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related diseases. In India, one per cent of the population has hepatitis C. This may not seem significant, but it is, considering our population and the fact that there may be pockets with high prevalence of the disease.