Why hepatitis is called the silent killer

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Millions of people are believed to be infected by hepatitis in Nigeria , but very few are aware of its existence, experts have said in Port Harcourt , Rivers State. Hepatitis B has been described as a major threat to global health because it is one of the most common viral infections with between 50 and 100 times more infectious than the most dreaded HIV disease. And, an estimated two billion people have been infected with the hepatitis B virus and approximately 350 million people are living with chronic (lifelong) infections worldwide.
Stephen, (not real name) a young business man, is a case in hand. Stephen feels healthy always but for a little malaria fever once in a while. He does not worry about the slight fever, being AA Genotype, a member of the malaria parasite carriers.
He only stops by at the patent medicine shop on his street to get an anti-malaria drug. Little did he know that he is suffering from chronic hepatitis B infection. Thank God for the compulsory test he had to undergo before donating blood to a relation who is suffering from the same hepatitis B, which has made him realise he was infected.
Experts now say many Nigerians today fall into this category of attributing every sickness to malaria and rushing down to the medicine shop for one of the numerous anti-malaria drugs in the market.
At a recent seminar, doctors said a couple once was panicky when their daughter was suffering from hepatitis B infection, because they witnessed the death of a second year undergraduate in one of the universities in the country, who is their neighbour's daughter as a result of the same sickness.
They had earlier given the girl anti-malaria drug bought from the drugs store nearby, which was a common practice. As the sickness intensified, it was said, the couple took her to hospital where several tests were carried out before the deadly Hepatitis B infection was diagnosed.
According to a recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), in Nigeria, about 19 million persons are infected by hepatitis B alone, which is about 14 percent of the nation's 140 million population, while about five million persons have died from its consequences.
At the health workshop in Port Harcourt recently (Hepatitis B and C infection) by the Society for Gastroenterology and Herpetology In Nigeria (SOGHIN), the group attributed the rate of the disease to huge ignorance about it in the country.
SOGHIN, a professional body made up of Nigerian physicians, surgeons, pathologists and allied health professionals, formed to tackle liver and digestive diseases; said they embarked on the workshop as a way of educating the public to reduce the burden of the diseases in the country.
Because the viruses that cause hepatitis B and C are silent viruses, the patient can be infected for many years without knowing it and when left untreated, these diseases could lead to liver cancer, liver failure and the ultimate consequence of death.
The virus that causes hepatitis B could be found in all major body fluids of infected people like; blood, semen, vaginal fluid, sweat, tears, saliva, urine, and breast milk, experts also said. It is transmitted mostly through blood transfusion, sexual intercourse, acupuncture, use of unsterilized equipment, sharing of razor blade, syringe, toothbrush and other means through which the body fluids of infected person can mix with that of an uninfected person.

Additional information:

Hepatitis C virus genotype 4 is highly prevalent in central Africa
Kidney International - Abstract of article: Hepatitis C virus
Antiviral Therapy May Promote Hepatitis B Virus Genotype Changes
Hepatitis C- Types of Hepatitis C
BiomedExperts: Significance of hepatitis B genotype in acute
Hvidovre Hospital Â' forskning : Robust hepatitis C genotype 3a
Genotype -specific mechanisms for hepatic steatosis in chronic
A divergent genotype of hepatitis E virus in Chinese patients with
BioMed Central , Full text , Non-travel related Hepatitis E virus
Hepatitis C Trust , November , Epidemiology and Treatment Response

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