Health authorities and charities are calling for more people to be tested for hepatitis, as millions around the world carry the disease without even knowing it.
This is the main message sent for World Hepatitis Day, July 28.
Hepatitis is the cause of more than a million deaths per year throughout the world, and this number has been increasing in recent years.
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What is hepatitis and why is it so deadly?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most often caused by a viral infection.
It can lead to liver cancer, cirrhosis and several other liver diseases.
There are five types of viruses, ranging from A to E.
Hepatitis B and C are the most fatal.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1,3 million people worldwide die annually from the diseases they cause.
That makes one death every 30 seconds.
How widespread is hepatitis?
WHO estimates that 254 million people live with chronic hepatitis B, and 50 million people have chronic hepatitis C.
The organization states that more than two million new cases of this disease are registered every year.
The WHO says hepatitis B affects:
- 97 million people in the WHO Western Pacific Region (comprising China, Japan and Australasia) who are chronically infected
- 65 million people in Africa
- 61 million people in the WHO South-East Asia region (which includes India, Thailand and Indonesia)
WHO states that hepatitis E infects 20 million people worldwide every year and that in 2015 it caused 44.000 deaths.
It is most common in South and East Asia.
How do you get hepatitis?
Hepatitis A is most often acquired by ingesting food or water contaminated with feces or through direct contact with an infected person.
It is common in low- or middle-income countries with poor sanitation.
Symptoms disappear quickly, and almost everyone recovers from it.
However, it can cause cirrhosis of the liver, which can be fatal.
Hepatitis A tends to flare up in epidemics in places with contaminated food or water - such as Shanghai, China, where 1998 people were infected in 300.000.
China began immunizing people against hepatitis A after the 1998 epidemic in Shanghai.
Hepatitis B is most often transmitted:
- from mother to child during birth and delivery
- kontaktom sa deteta na dete
- from contaminated needles and syringes, tattooing, piercing, or exposure to infected blood and body fluids (for example, during sex)
Hepatitis C i D are also transmitted through contact with infected blood, such as by sharing needles and syringes, or from transfusions of contaminated blood.
Only people with hepatitis B can be infected with hepatitis D.
This happens in about five percent of people who have chronic hepatitis B infection and get a fairly severe infection.
Hepatitis E. is obtained by ingesting contaminated food and water.
It is most common in South and East Asia and can be particularly harmful to pregnant women.
How do you know if you have hepatitis?
Prema SAT, the symptoms of hepatitis can include:
- temperature
- zamor
- loss of appetite
- diarrhea
- nausea
- stomach pain
- dark-colored urine and light-colored stools
- Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and sclera)
However, many people with hepatitis have only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
The latest WHO data, from 2022, show that worldwide only 13 percent of people with chronic hepatitis B and only 36 percent of people with chronic hepatitis C have a diagnosis.
The danger is that they can pass on the infection without even knowing it, which is why the WHO and medical charities are calling for more people to be tested.
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What do hepatitis tests and treatment look like?
You can have your blood tested for hepatitis A, B and C at your GP or sexual health clinic.
There is no specific treatment method for hepatitis A.
However, most people with this disease usually recover quickly and become immune to it.
Chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C can be treated with antiviral agents, which slow the progression of cirrhosis and reduce the chances of developing liver cancer.
There are vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and B.
Given to babies at birth, the hepatitis B vaccine can prevent the disease from being passed on from their mothers, and it can also protect against hepatitis D.
There is no vaccine for hepatitis C, and a vaccine for hepatitis E is not currently widely available.
How can I avoid getting hepatitis?
Liver dishes must be cooked well to avoid getting hepatitis E
According to the WHO, the spread hepatitis A can be avoided by:
- regular hand washing before meals and after going to the toilet
- adequate supply of safe drinking water in communities
- proper waste water disposal in communities.
The WHO says it is best avoided hepatitis B, C i D by:
- practice safe sex, use condoms and reduce the number of sexual partners
- avoid sharing needles for injecting drugs, for piercing or tattooing
- for hepatitis B - wash your hands after coming into contact with blood, body fluids or contaminated surfaces
- for hepatitis B - get the vaccine, if you are an adult and work in healthcare, because the vaccine given at birth can last for 20 years.
Hepatitis E can be avoided by good hygiene practices and also by thoroughly cooking animal liver before eating - especially pork liver.
How are health authorities trying to eliminate hepatitis?
The WHO says that by 2030 it wants to reduce the number of people who get hepatitis B and C by 90 percent, and to reduce the number of deaths from them by 65 percent.
However, the organization states that it is the number of deaths caused by hepatitis viruses is on the rise.
Its latest data shows it has grown from 1,1 million worldwide in 2019 to 1,3 million in 2022.
The WHO says hundreds of millions of people still have trouble getting tested for hepatitis because only about 60 percent of countries provide free or subsidized testing and treatment for it.
In Africa, says the WHO, only a third of the countries provide the above.
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