Experts say vaccination best way to fight hepatitis B

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Julie, 24, has never thought Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has infected her liver since birth.

She realized, however, that something was wrong with her liver back in 1998, when her skin turned yellowish.

"Earlier, I had often suffered from nausea and felt weak, but I thought it was nothing," Julie recalled.

The doctor who examined her said she was already at an advanced stage of Hepatitis B called cirrhosis. The physician told her there were some lumps on her liver.

"The doctor told me that having cirrhosis at my age meant that I must have had the virus since birth," she said.

She said she had never had a Hepatitis B vaccination.

Director of the hepatology division at the University of Indonesia's School of Medicine Ali Sulaiman said that around 15 million Indonesians had Hepatitis B. The number was growing by between 3 percent and 9 percent a year.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that is triggered by various hepatitis viruses, ranging from A to H.

Unvaccinated babies and low awareness among the public of the disease have been blamed for the high number of people with the Hepatitis B virus, Ali said.

"A baby should receive a Hepatitis B vaccine at least 48 hours after birth. Once a baby has contracted the virus, it's more likely to suffer a chronic Hepatitis B later in life," said Ali.

Lack of information on the disease has caused people to mistreat people with Hepatitis B, he added.

"A woman came to me saying she did not want her family or friends to know she had Hepatitis B. A friend of her's who also had the virus faced discriminatory treatment from colleagues at work, for example, by refusing to share eating utensils with her," said Ali.

He found most companies denied employment to people with HBV.

Julie is one of the victims of this type of discrimination. She has had her applications for jobs turned down many times.

"Some companies told me they did not want to employ people with Hepatitis B because they thought people like me were not productive," she said on Saturday.

She is now working as a temporary therapist for Down's syndrome children, replacing a friend.

A former national basketball team player, Darwin (not his real name), said he was suspended from the team after he tested positive for Hepatitis B.

Ali said not everyone with HBV would have lower productivity.

"There are people with the virus who are only carriers and the virus does not affect their productivity," said Ali.

A carrier could infect other people, but the possibility of this could be reduced through education. No symptoms developed in the virus carriers so that their productivity would not be affected, Ali said.

Separately, Indonesian Heart Research Association (PPHI) spokesman Irsan Hasan said some 20 percent of HBV carriers could suffer from acute or chronic hepatitis B.

The association has established a hotline service on 021 461- 5166.

Acute hepatitis takes some six months to become chronic. However, about 90 percent of patients recover and develop strong immunity during this period.

Without medication, however, their condition will deteriorate within 10 or 20 years into cirrhosis and finally liver cancer.

However, the necessary medication is relatively expensive and a generic version of the medicine is still unavailable.

A bottle of 30 tablets costs Rp 1.1 million (US$127.91). Patients must take one tablet per day for at least a year to control the virus.

Julie said she paid Rp 22,000 for each tablet she consumed for one whole year. She also spent Rp 825,000 on a HBV DNA test to find out the genetic material of the virus in her body.

With no access to employment, it is obviously difficult for people with Hepatitis B to purchase the medication they need, let alone lead normal lives.