World Hepatitis Day: Blood tests and pills can prevent deaths from hepatitis, awareness needed

Liver disease and liver cancer are common causes of death and disability in our country. About one-third and more than half of liver cancer patients with liver cirrhosis are associated with hepatitis B and C. Both diseases are easily diagnosed and treated in the present age but unfortunately are not.

World Hepatitis Day: Blood tests and pills can prevent deaths from hepatitis, awareness needed

The concern is that thousands of deaths could have been prevented with a simple blood test and a pill, but lack of awareness is failing to do so.

Said that hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver and is caused by many viruses (viral hepatitis). Common causes of hepatitis include viruses, alcoholism, immune disorders, and use of certain medications. Viruses remain the most common cause of hepatitis known as viral hepatitis. The disease is caused by hepatitis viruses A, B, C, E or delta, as well as some rare viruses such as the Epstein-Barr virus (EB).

Also read: World Health Day – These are the 5 most dangerous diseases of the world, know how to avoid them

These signs are dangerous

Patients present with symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, lethargy, dark urine, jaundice, abdominal pain, and leg swelling. Hepatitis A and E are spread through contaminated water and food and can damage the liver, he said. Both A and E viruses cause severe illness that manifests as jaundice and fever that usually lasts a few days. However, it can also be fatal in some cases.

Adults can also get the hepatitis vaccine

To protect yourself from hepatitis A and E, drink clean drinking water and avoid eating fruits and vegetables sold in the market. Two doses of the vaccine, given six months apart, help prevent hepatitis A infection. This vaccine is given to children up to 18 years of age. Adults who have not been vaccinated can also be vaccinated.

This condition can be serious

Jaundice caused by hepatitis A or B virus can lead to hepatitis B, a fatal hepatitis. Both of these viruses are spread through contaminated blood or body fluids, not through contaminated food. Hepatitis B is preventable with a vaccine and hepatitis C has no vaccine. Hepatitis B vaccine is used to prevent millions of cases of hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. The second and third doses of hepatitis B vaccine, with three more doses given six months after the first dose, provide 90 percent protection for more than 20 years.

They are more at risk

Organ transplant patients, dialysis patients, prisoners, medical professionals and sex workers, tattooists, street hair, sharing syringes and needles as well as using infected person’s personal items such as razors, toothbrushes etc. Affected people are at higher risk.