By Kemi Yesufu with agency report
As Nigeria joins the comity of nations to mark the World Hepatitis Day, an expert has warned of how deadly the virus is, saying it is more deadly than HIV. An expert in an interview with TRIBUNE also stressed the need to get tested for the virus, get immunised and avoid lifestyle habits such as abuse of paracetamol and alcohol use that predispose individuals to hepatitis.
Hepatitis vs HIV
The hepatitis virus, especially the B, is about 100 times as infectious as HIV. HIV as a virus is a freak. When you leave it on the surface, within hours, it is dead but hepatitis B can live on a surface for weeks and still be infective. So, it is more readily transmitted than HIV.
Of course, the consequences that follow getting a hepatitis B, like chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, could be deadly. In fact, liver cancer is like a death sentence because usually we do not discover it early. People at the early stages of liver cancer usually have no symptoms.
Hepatitis, the silent killer
Hepatitis is a silent killer. The reason is that most people who have the virus are not aware because there are no symptoms, until it has caused severe damage to the liver.
The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. It can continue to tag on to manage to function until about 90 to 95 per cent of it is damaged, and then fail. That is why even with advanced disease, a person will not know that something is wrong unless they go for a test.
Most people who are discovered to have the disease get to know either when the test is required when they go for marriage counselling, before going for surgery or when they have already developed liver cancer.
And that is why vaccination is the most important way of preventing hepatitis. For hepatitis A and B, there are effective vaccinations. Also, everybody should get tested to know if they are positive for hepatitis B.
At UCH, we have been offering tests for hepatitis for decades. Just present yourself with a request form and blood sample will be taken for the test. They will give you a result in less than 24 hours. The basic test that is done is called hepatitis B surface antigen.
There are also facilities to ascertain hepatitis viral load, liver function as well as to assess its damages on the liver. A liver scan can show chronic hepatitis, scarred liver or even liver cancer.
How does alcohol or herbal medicines lead to hepatitis?
Drugs and alcohol are processed in the liver. In the course of handling them, some of their breakdown products over time damage the liver and cause hepatitis.
Like viral hepatitis is caused by viruses, we also have other types like alcohol-induced hepatitis and auto-immune hepatitis, wherein the body starts to react to itself instead of reacting to foreign organisms or substances, and so destroying the liver.
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