A medical specialist Monday advised a healthy lifestyle, hygienic food, clean water and proper sterilisation of all medical instruments, including blades and syringes, to prevent the spread of Hepatitis in humans.
Speaking on the occasion of World Hepatitis Awareness Day, renowned gastroenterologist Prof. Dr Zahid Azam shed light on the causes of the Hepatitis B, C, D, and E pandemic – a silent killer- and its cure and preventive measures to curb its spread.
He said most patients in Pakistan are suffering from the Hepatitis B virus, and that is directly related to the liver’s malfunctioning, and in children, it is present in the form of jaundice and Hepatitis A. He said Hepatitis B, C, and D can even cause patients’ deaths.
He said the most common causes of hepatitis are found in cases of negligence in daily diet, use of already unsterilised syringes and instruments, and blood transfusion without prior screening. He said infected tools can transmit hepatitis to other patients easily.
He urged patients to always demand to use the new blades whenever they visit medical facilities.
Replying to a question relating to external factors of Hepatitis spread and its slow cure, he said medical doctors, nurses, and surgeons should take extra care while using medical instruments such as blades and syringes to give medical help to the patients.
So far as the internal factors of Hepatitis virus spread are concerned, he said the major cause of Hepatitis E is due to unhygienic food, polluted water, while Hepatitis B, C, and D are due to blood issues.
He informed about Autoimmune Hepatitis, which is another kind, and it is caused by a patient’s cell that works against their own body, and thus they get infected, but its spread is mostly in European and Western countries and not in Pakistan.
He said that luckily there is available the cure, medicines, and vaccination for Hepatitis B while there are now available medicines for hepatitis C, and we are expecting that the spread of Hepatitis C or D would be eliminated.
Talking about Pakistan’s EPI programme, he said the govt of Pakistan is equipped with sufficient Hepatitis vaccine for the cure of the diseases adding that he said Pakistan is on the third position in diseases like Diabetes and blood pressure which are the valcanos for the fatty liver issues and the person lands in the liver damage and even liver function failure that may need the transplant in patients.