Expert says efficient sewerage system, clean drinking water can help reduce incidence . STOCK IMAGE
ISLAMABAD:
Gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Shifa International Hospital (SIH) Dr Mohammad Salih said that approximately 4.5 per cent of Pakistanis were suffering from Hepatitis C, while 2.5 per cent were Hepatitis B patients.
The hepatologist, while speaking at an awareness seminar on World Hepatitis Day here on Tuesday, said the hepatitis virus affected the liver, which was the largest and most metabolically-complex internal organ in the body.
Salih said Hepatitis A and E is discharged through faecal matter of an infected individual. “In case of improper disposal and poor sewerage the virus contaminates sources of drinking water and makes it back to food and water we consume on a daily basis,” he said.
Read: Disease prevention : DUHS hosts seminar on Hepatitis
“Unclean towels and toilet habits can also lead to contracting the virus,” he said, sharing that boiling water for 20 to 30 minutes can kill the virus.
Hepatitis D and C is transmitted through use of unclean barber equipment, toothbrushes, dentistry and surgical tools or generally any other equipment that comes in close contact with the human body and has been used on another person before, he explained.
He said that symptoms of the virus did not appear right away as the incubation period lasted for 30 to 40 days.
Salih said pregnant women were 15-to-25 per cent more at risk of developing foetal complications if they contracted the virus during the last three months of pregnancy.
Moreover, Dr Farzana Shafqat, a consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist at SIH, said our foremost focus should be on preventive measures such as consumption of clean food and water.
She said that an individual suffering from Hepatitis C could cook food for others since the disease was not transmitted through hands but through various kinds of bodily fluids such as blood.
Read: World Hepatitis Day: ‘Preventing hepatitis is up to you’
The two medical experts said that patients should try to keep their diet as wholesome as possible.
SIH Medicine and Gastroenterology Department Head Dr Nasir Khokhar said hepatitis was one of the most frequently occurring diseases in the country.
Figures from PIMS
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) officials said that around 6,000 hepatitis patients were admitted to the hospital since last year. “At any given time 40 to 50 hepatitis patients are admitted at the hospital,” they said.
The officials said that 1,500 patients were diagnosed with hepatitis every month. They said that around 3,000 patients were given injections provided by Pakistan Baitul Maal against the virus free of charge at the hospital.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2015.
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