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Raising Awareness: World Hepatitis Day

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

This month marks the fifteenth Anniversary of Hepatitis Awareness Month in the United States; May 19 is World Hepatitis Day.  

World Hepatitis Day was launched by the World Hepatitis Alliance in 2008.  The goal is to raise awareness about viral hepatitis in the U.S. and around the world.

According the World Hepatitis Alliance, the organization's long-term objective is to prevent new infections and to deliver real improvements in health outcomes for people living with hepatitis B and C. Globally, hepatitis is the cause of most (78 percent) primary liver cancer, the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the world.

All hepatitis viruses infect the liver. 

Each year, approximately 30,000 to 50,000 cases of hepatitis A occur in the United States. Hepatitis A is the only common vaccine-preventable foodborne disease in the United States. Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A doesn't develop into chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, which are both potentially fatal conditions; however, infection with the hepatitis A virus (HAV) can still lead to acute liver failure and death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates of the annual direct and indirect costs of hepatitis A in the United States have ranged from $300 million to $488.8 million in 1997 dollars.

Hepatitis A is more common in countries with underdeveloped sanitation systems. It is a communicable (or contagious) disease that spreads from person to person. It is transmitted by the "fecal-oral route," generally from person-to-person, or via contaminated food or water. Contamination takes place in food-related outbreaks during food preparation by a Hepatitis A-infected food handler.

Although ingestion of contaminated food is a common means of spread for hepatitis A, it may also be spread by household contact among families or roommates, sexual contact, by the ingestion of contaminated water or shellfish (like oysters), and by direct inoculation from persons sharing illicit drugs.

Hepatitis A is relatively stable and can survive for several hours on fingertips and hands and up to two months on dry surfaces.

Affected individuals generally suffer from loss of appetite, so the main concern is ensuring a patient receives adequate nutrition and avoids permanent liver damage.  An individual's perception of the severity of fatigue is the best determinant of the need for rest.

Hepatitis B and C can be transmitted through shared needles, shared personal items such as razors or toothbrushes with an infected person, and by having unprotected sex with an infected person. 

Symptoms of hepatitis B include exhaustion, mild fever, headache, vomiting, muscle aches, and more. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that two billion people have been infected with the hepatitis B virus and about 350 million people are living with chronic infections. About 500,000-700,000 people each year from hepatitis B.

Hepatitis C is different from hepatitis B in that the virus more frequently stays in the body for longer than six months, and therefore becomes chronic. Four out of five people with hepatitis C develop a chronic infection which may cause cirrhosis and liver cancer after 15-30 years.  There are approximately 170 million people chronically infected with hepatitis C worldwide.

Unlike hepatitis A and B, there is no vaccine that will prevent hepatitis C.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on May 19, 2010 (boomark / email).