What is hepatitis and how to get it?

"Viral hepatitis is one of the biggest threats to the overall health of our time" highlights the Global Alliance Against Hepatitis . This entity indicates that viral hepatitis causes 1.34 million deaths a year and is the cause of two out of three deaths due to liver cancer.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that is usually caused by liver cancer. viral infection. The main viruses are five and are named with the letters A, B, C, D and E. However, not all of them have the same gravity. The most dangerous are B and C.

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The World Health Organization (19459008) states that the hepatitis virus A is present in the excrement of infected persons and almost always transmitted because of the consumption of food or contaminated water. The infection is usually mild and most people recover fully and gain immunity against future infections with this virus. However, the WHO recalls that infections with the hepatitis A virus can also be serious and life-threatening.

The hepatitis B virus is transmitted by contact with blood, semen and other liquids. bodily injury of an infected person. It can cause chronic liver disease and carries a high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer. WHO points out that this pathology, B, constitutes a major health problem worldwide. This entity specifies that you can prevent "with the currently available vaccine, which is safe and effective."

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The hepatitis C virus is transmitted almost always through the bloodstream. Sexual transmission is also possible, but much less common. Vicente Carreño, president of the Foundation for the Study of Viral Hepatitis, explains that the transmission pathways are common for viruses B and C. However, "virus B is a lot more infectious than the C so, in the same exposure, it is easier to be infected with B than with C, "he says.

Contrary to what happens with hepatitis B, there is no vaccine to prevent C. The WHO estimates that 399,000 people die each year because of this, in particularly because of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. People infected with this type of virus usually have no symptoms. In fact, the infection often remains asymptomatic for decades, until the symptoms of severe damage caused by the virus in the liver appear.

"Antivirals can cure over 95% of cases of infection with virus C, which reduces the risk of death from liver cancer and cirrhosis, but access to diagnosis and treatment is limited, "says the WHO.

Hepatitis D only occurs in people infected with the B virus. "The simultaneous infection by both viruses can cause a more serious condition and have a worse outcome," says Dr. ; WHO.

Finally, the hepatitis E virus, as happens with A, is transmitted through the consumption of contaminated food and water. In this sense, Dr. Carreño specifies that the hepatitis E virus is present in many animals and can pass to humans through the consumption of meat. Thus, he emphasizes that we must take care of pork and never consume it raw.

300 million people

According to the World Alliance Against Hepatitis, 300 million people live with viral hepatitis without knowing it . Many of them suffer from B or C, two infectious diseases that cause severe damage to the liver, cancer and can cause death.

This entity stresses that B and C strike especially the most disadvantaged, for example, those who inject drugs, indigenous peoples, prisoners or those who suffer from HIV or AIDS among other population groups.

Similarly, the Global Alliance Against Hepatitis states that 90% of those who suffer from B and 80% of those who live with C do not know that they have the disease, this which leads to the real possibility that they develop liver cancer that can be deadly. Moreover, these people can transmit the infection to others without realizing it.

For this reason, health authorities recommend that people who have been exposed to a risk of contracting hepatitis B or C go to a health center. screen for these viruses.

Examples of risk situations: having sex without a condom with a person who may be infected; had a tattoo in a location that does not meet the necessary sanitary conditions or has undergone unsafe medical procedures.

The A Global Bacterial Hepatitis points out that since there are vaccines and effective treatments for B and a cure for C, the elimination of viral hepatitis is an achievable goal. However, a better knowledge and knowledge of the disease and its risks are needed, as well as better access to diagnoses and treatments.