World Hepatitis Day is celebrated on July 28, the birthday of Baruch Samuel Blumberg, the doctor who identified the hepatitis B virus. World Hepatitis B Day is therefore aimed at raising awareness about the disease - its treatment and prevention options.
World Hepatitis Dayis celebrated primarily so that we can learn as much as possible about this disease.
Hepatitis A, B and C cannot be taken lightly. The hepatitis B virus is 100 times more infectious than HIV. In 2022, according to the National Institute of Public He alth, the National Institute of Hygiene, over 3,000 cases of hepatitis A were recorded in Poland, which is over 80 times more than a year earlier.
By 2030, thanks to progress in medicine, eliminate hepatitis C. July 28 -World Hepatitis Day- is a good time to learn more about hepatitis A, B and C and the prevention of serious infections, which, in the case of hepatitis B, can even be fatal.
Tests in the fight against hepatitis C
The number of people infected with hepatitis B in Poland is steadily declining, mainly due to the universal vaccination program, and ranges from 4 to 9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to the NIPH PZH data, in 2016 there were 50 cases of acute hepatitis B and 3,756 newly diagnosed cases of chronic hepatitis B (infections acquired many years ago).
The only effective prophylaxis against hepatitis B infection is vaccination. The first dose is given to the newborn baby before they leave the hospital.
And although more and more often on the websites of opponents of vaccination you can read that one should wait for this vaccination, and sometimes even that it is not necessary at all, hepatologists warn against underestimating viral hepatitis:
Infection with hepatitis can have very serious consequences. In some people, it leads to cirrhosis of the liver, and sometimes to cancer, as it is an oncogenic virus - Jan Gietka, MD, hepatologist, told the portal www.zaszkujesiewiedza.pl.
- Many people do not even know they are carriers of a virus that is very contagious before symptoms develop. A small drop of blood, invisible to the naked eye, is enough for an infection to occur.In my practice, there are people who are unable to determine when the infection occurred. Hepatitis is an incurable disease, but it can be prevented by vaccination. And everyone should get vaccinated, because infection can occur not only in hospital or during medical procedures, but also at the beautician, hairdresser and as a result of sexual contact.
Since hepatitis B and hepatitis A can be transmitted through sexual contact, raising hygiene standards in medical facilities, although extremely important, is neither an effective nor sufficient way to prevent infection:
In countries such as the United Kingdom, France or Switzerland, hepatitis infection occurs primarily in the group of teenagers who begin their sexual life - explains Dr. Jan Gietka - Therefore, vaccination against hepatitis cannot be discussed solely in the context of risk groups, because everyone is exposed to infection, at any age and if we stop vaccinating, the number of cases in the group of young people in Poland will increase as well.
About hepatitis A, however, there is a misconception that only people who travel to exotic countries should get vaccinated. Of course, we should absolutely remember about vaccinations, for example, in Egypt, Thailand, Vietnam, China, but in Poland for many years, periodically, there have been hepatitis A epidemics. The last one took place last year:
In the hospital, we observed an increase in admissions due to infection with hepatitis A, called food jaundice - says Dr. . the disease of dirty hands and can be transmitted precisely in the home environment. In Poland, most people under 40 have never been exposed to the hepatitis A virus, so these people are not immunized, hence the increase in the incidence of young people. As in the case of hepatitis B vaccination is an effective prophylaxis. It is true that hepatitis A is not as dangerous a virus as the hepatitis B virus, but the course of the disease and hospitalization are a very unpleasant experience for the patient.
The good news is about hepatitis C infections, which cannot be protected against by vaccination: thanks to the advances in medicine, effective treatment, the disease does not pose a threat to the life and he alth of patients, and scientists believe that by 2030 the virus will be completely successful eliminate or limit the range of its occurrence to narrow risk groups.