Jakartans still unaware of Hepatitis B spread
Jakartans still unaware of Hepatitis B spread
JAKARTA (JP): Not many people here seem to be aware of the
Hepatitis B virus, which statistics reveal still infects one in
20 Jakartans, the same proportion of the population infected ten
years ago.
Internist Rino Alvani Gani from the Association of Indonesian
Liver Researchers (PPHI) said on Thursday that the figure was
alarmingly high when compared to the number of people suffering
diabetes mellitus in Jakarta, which was only 2 percent of the
population.
Latest data shows that there are now more than 10 million
people living in the capital.
Rino was quoting figures from an annual survey conducted by
PPHI, revealing that the number of Jakartans infected with the
Hepatitis B virus had not changed in a decade.
He said the country was still vulnerable to the virus with
prevalence of the virus within specific communities ranging
between 4 percent and 34 percent.
Some 11 million of the 350 million people suffering from
Hepatitis B around the world are Indonesians, he added.
Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver triggered by
various hepatitis viruses, ranging from A to H. The virus
persists in the blood, sperm, saliva and other bodily fluids. It
can be transmitted to other people by sharing personal items
containing traces of bodily fluids, through sexual intercourse,
blood transfusions or even from the permanent needle used for
tattooing.
Population density, low economic status and unhygienic
lifestyles are the main factors contributing to the epidemic
levels of the virus.
Rino claimed that there was no evidence suggesting that the
virus could be spread through the use of towels, bed sheets,
cutlery or dishes used by people infected with Hepatitis B.
"The Hepatitis B virus is responsible for more than 80 percent
of liver cancer and cirrhosis, and can slowly kill those who are
infected with it within up to 20 years, surviving virtually
unnoticed, as it does not show any immediate nor significant
symptoms," he said.
Rino said that only 20 percent of the sufferers exhibit the
virus's flu-like symptoms, such as weakness, loss of appetite,
nausea and a yellowish tinge in the eyes and skin.
"It's better if people have a test to see whether they have
contracted the virus or even to see if the virus has started to
replicate. It is curable because vaccines to fight the virus have
been found, and it is not as fatal as Hepatitis C.
"However, most sufferers only find out that they have the
virus after their livers have been damaged. By that time there is
not much we can do," Rino said during a free Hepatitis B
screening test in the food court of Pasar Festival Kuningan,
South Jakarta. (bby)