Punjab capital of hepatitis C in India: Doctors

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 27

“Eliminate hepatitis” is a theme for World Hepatitis Day-2018 which is being observed today. The day aims to bring the world together to raise awareness related to viral hepatitis and the impact it has worldwide.

Viral hepatitis – a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E – affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, causing acute and chronic liver disease and killing close to 1.4 million people every year.

“Hepatitis B and C virus are the leading cause of liver cancer in world, yet more than 80 per cent of those affected with viral hepatitis are unaware of it. Viral hepatitis does not restrict itself to one specific region or people but is found worldwide making it a global epidemic,” said Dr Dinesh Gupta, Head, Department of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy at the Deepak Hospital.

“Hepatitis B and C to a large extent is an asymptomatic disease. Thus in a majority of cases patients are diagnosed at very late stage. Due to lack of awareness on disease transmission there is a risk of these patients spreading the disease to others through various means”, added Dr Gupta.

Dr Nitin Shanker Behl, Head, Gastroenterology Department at the Fortis Hospital said, “Punjab is the capital of hepatitis C in India as prevalence of disease is maximum in the state.” In an interactive session with Sarpanches of 50 villages, Dr Behl highlighted the need for screening of people living in these villages and treatment of positive patients.

He said, “Hepatitis C is primarily caused by factors, including unscreened blood during transfusions, unsafe surgical practices and unsafe therapeutic injections. However, in Punjab, the main cause of the spread of hepatitis C is sharing of infected needles by intravenous drug users and blood products. Most people contract it when using drug equipment and unsterile tattoo and piercing practices.”

Other risk factors include receiving medical, dental or personal services using contaminated equipment, a parent could infect a child during pregnancy and childbirth, sharing personal items like nail clippers, razors and toothbrushes and also being exposed to blood during sexual activity.

“You don’t know you have it until you get tested,” Dr Behl said. The need for serious action along the lines of drug-free Punjab movement was shared with village heads. For youngsters his message was “Even if you took drugs with your friends just once, you should get tested. And the reason you should get tested is because it is curable now. Advances in medicine have led to an improved cure with fewer side effects, meaning people with hepatitis C have a 98 per cent chance of being cured after eight to 12 weeks on medication.”

Dr Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi, Head, Department of Gastroenterology, SPS Hospitals said, “Majority of cases go unnoticed as hepatitis B and C gets detected only through blood tests. Patients need to consult doctor at the earliest to start the therapy. In case of hepatitis C the process of disease progression is slow and it can take a period of months or years to show symptoms.”

Dr Malhi said, “Scientific evidence has shown that success of response to drug treatment in early stage (chronic hepatitis) is much better as compared to later stage of liver disease (cirrhosis).”

He said, “Hepatitis C can be cured. Currently, we have many oral anti-viral drugs available that are effective in eradicating virus from body. Drugs need to be taken for a minimum period of 12 weeks with regular blood check-ups, there are no or minimal side effects with more than 95 per cent cure rates.”