It’s World Hepatitis Day and Here Are 12 Facts You Should Know!
You probably heard about Hepatitis before; unless you’ve been living under a rock, but if you’re not familiar with what exactly the disease is, then you’ve got to read this article. Hepatitis is basically the inflammation of the liver often caused by viral infections or viruses. There are several types of those including A, B, C, D, and E.
World Hepatitis Day takes place on the 28th of July every year with an aim to raise global awareness of the fatal disease. That’s why we decided to take part in this by creating more awareness in the Arab world after extensive and thorough research. So today, we bring you 12 facts about Hepatitis that we think you should know.
Hepatitis B and C are the most deadly
Those two viral types are leading causes of liver cancer, liver damage, and premature death. Hepatitis B and C kill more people than HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis every year.
Most people are not aware they have it
There are around 300 million people around the world living with either Hepatitis B or C. 90% of those living with B and 80% of those living with C are unaware they’re living with the disease. That puts a higher risk of liver cancer and more casualties.
Signs and symptoms could fool you
Symptoms may not be alerting at times as they include fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle ache, and joint ache.
However, there are warning signs
Those include yellow skin or eyes, abdominal pain, dark urine, and light clay-colored stool.
Poor hygiene and sanitation are behind Hepatitis A
This type is most likely to be common in areas where there’s no safe water or poor sanitation. That’s because it’s normally transmitted through contaminated food or water.
There is no cure for Hepatitis A
This type only causes acute Hepatitis, so the body should be able to clear the infection on its own within a few weeks. However, further complications may occur at other times, that’s why clean water is highly crucial for prevention. Even though there’s no cure for this type, but there’s a vaccine for it.
Hepatitis B is transmitted by direct contact with blood
Not just a direct contact with infected blood, but also any other infected body fluids could lead to the transmission of the disease. That means that means of transmission include sharing needles/syringes, sharing razors, sharing toothbrushes, unprotected sex, or from mother to child during birth.
Hepatitis C is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact
Unlike type B, type C needs direct contact of blood both ways. The transmission could occur during unsafe injections for instance, unscreened blood and blood products, or any case where someone’s blood gets in contact with an infected person’s blood.
There is no real cure for Hepatitis B
However, there are some antiviral drugs available that slow down the replication of the virus and sometimes leading to its clearance. Also, the vaccine is said to be highly effective for prevention of the disease.
Hepatitis C could be cured
Even though there is no vaccine available for this type, but treatment is. In fact, since Egypt has had the highest rates, it has developed expertise in curing the disease. Check Tour n’ Cure for more information.
Hepatitis B and D are interconnected
Hepatitis D is transmitted the same way as B and to get infected by type D, you need to be already infected by type B. Hence, type B’s vaccine will automatically prevent you from getting infected with Hepatitis D. What’s worth mentioning is that the cure for type D hasn’t proved to be very effective.
Hepatitis A and E have a lot in common
Just like type A, Hepatitis E is also passed on by food and water contamination and the same goes for it regarding treatment. There is a vaccine for it also but it’s not widely available, so best chances are that precautions need to take place for avoiding getting infected.
