Dubai: Low awareness about Hepatitis B is leading to a high prevalence of the potentially life-threatening liver infection, which affects over 135,000 UAE residents, an official at a private medical laboratory said.
The irony is that carriers of the virus are usually unaware of the disease and may not suffer from any of the symptoms, Dr Solmez Seddiqi, Lab Director of Medsol, part of Gulf Healthcare International in Dubai, said. If left untreated, Hepatitis B may lead to liver conditions such as fibrosis, cirrhosis or even cancer, she said, adding that the liver is critical for survival as it helps detoxify the body, manage protein synthesis and produces biochemicals needed for digestion.
The most common among the different types of Hepatitis (ranging from A to G), Hepatitis B can be contracted unknowingly from a carrier, said Dr Seddiqi, giving examples such as unprotected sex, tattoos, mother-to-child breast-feeding, sharing of syringes in intravenous drug use, shaving accessories such as razor blades or touching wounds of infected persons.
She said global mortality rates among Hepatitis B patients vary between 50,000-120,000 a year. Vaccination against Hepatitis B is part of the WHO-recommended immunisation schedule for children.
