What to know about hepatitis

Hepatitis is a disease that causes an inflammation of the tissues of the liver and more and more cases are being recorded all over the country. According to Dr Ganiyat Oyeleke, a consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) there are five types of viral hepatitis – A, B, C, D and […]

Hepatitis is a disease that causes an inflammation of the tissues of the liver and more and more cases are being recorded all over the country.

According to Dr Ganiyat Oyeleke, a consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) there are five types of viral hepatitis – A, B, C, D and E.

“Hepatitis A and E are transmitted by contaminated food and water. Fever, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and yellow eyes are some of the symptoms and they go on their own. They don’t stay in the body to cause further damage. Hepatitis B, C and D stay longer than six months in the body and they grow into chronic form.

“Hepatitis B and C are the most common in Nigeria and they can cause liver damage which results to liver cancer. Of all the hepatitis types, it is the B that is most common in Nigeria. About 13 percent of Nigerians would have had it or still have it. That’s a huge number. For hepatitis C, the prevalence is only about one to two percent. It is not everyone that has hepatitis B that will end up having liver cancer, but having it increases the risk of the cancer,” the physician said.

Some of the common symptoms include poor appetite, tiredness, vomiting, yellow discoloration of the skin and the white portion of the eye to mention but a few.

Dr  Oyeleke said hepatitis could be transmitted through contact with the blood of an infected person. “To get this, there must be a break on the skin through a razor cut, needle prick, knife cut, puncture, or wound.

“Hepatitis can’t be transmitted if the blood of an infected person poured on an intact skin, there must be a crack on the skin. Mothers can transmit to their baby, not during pregnancy but during childbirth. It is also transmitted from one child to another child if one is infected and the other has an open crack on the skin. It is better and safer if a child with a wound has it covered with bandage.

“Hepatitis is also sexually transmitted, especially in those who have multiple partners. As for the polygamous family, test must be done for the new wife before marriage.”

Another consultant physician and gastroenterologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, Dr Emuobor Odeghe, said sharing of sharp objects, unsafe sexual practices, transfusion of unscreened blood all increase the risk of getting infected with the hepatitis disease.

Ibrahim Khalifa was ignorant about the disease hepatitis until he was diagnosed with it during a medical exam, after he got recruited into the Nigerian Air Force. Khalifa, who lives in Pankshin, Plateau State, said he had undergone all the necessary exams and trainings at the Nigerian Air Force base in Kaduna but a simple medical exam had changed his life and shattered his dream of joining the Air Force.

Istifanus Mafeng on his part said he tested positive to hepatitis B when he offered to donate blood for his ill father in 2012. Mafeng however said he was immediately treated in the hospital and though all traces of the virus eliminated from his system until this year when he was put under pressure to get tested again during an awareness campaign on hepatitis.

Favour, 20, who came from Kaduna State to Abuja when she secured a job as a domestic staff, lost her job as a result of hepatitis. Her employer told her that she couldn’t take the risk of allowing her work in her home because she could infect her children and the rest of the family with the disease.

Dr. Pantong Mark Davwar, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) said, “Hepatitis C is curable but hepatitis B is not curable but treatable. So, for B, if you take the right medication consistently it can prevent you from having liver cirrhosis and liver cancer but for it to disappear from the body, it is unlikely with the current drugs that are available.”

To prevent the disease, Dr Emuobor Odeghe advised Nigerians to avoid sharing sharp objects and personal items, avoid unsafe sexual practices and ensure screening of blood and blood products before transfusion.

She urged health care workers to observe universal precautions when in contact with patients and handling body fluids.

She said Hepatitis C virus can be avoided by simple, regular hand washing, adding that patients with diabetes and high blood pressure should avoid being overweight or obese.

The physicians said hepatitis could be prevented through vaccination.

Dr Oyeleke said the vaccine and immunization could be given at health centres. “Three doses, one in the first month, the second will be taken after a month and the third dose will be after three months. There is also vaccine for hepatitis A and E. No immunization for hepatitis C, only precautions while D requires B to work. When you take vaccine for B, it prevents you from D.

“The recommendation is that every child must be vaccinated during the routine immunization after birth. It is also recommended that, every adult must be tested for hepatitis. If negative, they should get the vaccine but if positive, they should get treated.”

The physician said the treatment depends on the cause of the hepatitis. For chronic hepatitis B and C infections, effective drugs are available for treatment.

On treatment, the medical expert said some people require only monitoring while others need to be treated. There are treatments available – tablets, injections.

“Hepatitis B is not curable but only manageable. It’s not like malaria where the person will take a drug and it will cure it. But, it can be managed through medication. In the past, hepatitis C is known as the deadly one. Presently, hepatitis C is curable. With specific medications between three to six months, it can be cured.” Dr Oyeleke added.