‘Hepatitis patients at high risk from Covid-19’

As all five strands of hepatitis are common in Pakistan, patients must take extra care, say experts

KARACHI:

Hepatitis patients are at high risk of contracting Covid-19 due to baseline liver damage and therefore must be extra careful during the pandemic, cautioned Ziauddin University pro-chancellor Dr Nida Hussain during a webinar on Monday.

The virtual seminar, titled 'Find the Missing Millions,' was organised for World Hepatitis Day and aimed to provide awareness to health professionals and the community at large to fight against hepatitis.

Speaking at the same webinar, Pakistan Society for the Study of Liver Diseases president Dr Zaigham Abbas stated that all five major strands of hepatitis remained very common in Pakistan. "Patients of these viruses often exhibit clinical symptoms like jaundice, nausea and vomiting," he observed, adding, "Hepatitis B and C can affect the body and may cause chronic inflammation."

Dr Abbas further explained that both Hepatitis B and C could easily be transmitted through blood, unprotected sex and from mother to child. "Inadequate sterilisation and lack of cleanliness are the main causes of the spread of this virus," he claimed.

"Hepatitis B can be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby and while Hepatitis C can also be transmitted to a newborn child, the chances of this happening are quite low," added Dr Hussain. According to her, if a mother was suffering from hepatitis along with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the chances of transfer to the child became higher. However, she added that vaccinating a child against Hepatitis B within 12 hours of its birth could reduce the child's chances of contracting the virus.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2020.