Taking a heavy toll

Deaths due to viral hepatitis are much more than those due to AIDS and tuberculosis according to a publication by the World Health Organization (WHO). Over two lakh people lose their lives in India every year due to liver disease.

The liver is a vital organ that processes nutrients, filters blood and fights infections. When it is inflamed, in due course it ends up scarred and its function gets deranged. Heavy alcohol use, toxins, some medications and rarely certain genetic conditions can cause hepatitis. However, it is most often caused by a virus.In India, the most common types of viral hepatitis are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C & Hepatitis E.

Treatment of acute fulminant hepatitis should be done in centres that can perform liver transplantation since it has high death rate to the tune of 80 per cent without liver transplantation.

There are vaccines to protect against hepatitis A and B. All children ages 12 to 23 months should be given hepatitis A vaccination. Adults who have other risk factor and people with chronic hepatitis B or C should also get the hepatitis A vaccine. The hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for all infants at birth and for adults who have any of the risk factors.

Hepatitis B can be effectively treated and Hepatitis C can be cured to the tune of 98 per cent with 12 weeks of tablet therapy, recently introduced in the Indian market. Key to successful eradication of these viruses before irreversible damage sets in is screening and early detection. (The writer is Senior Liver Transplant Surgeon, Yashoda group of Hospitals, Secunderabad)

By Dr Balachandran Menon