Vaccines protect babies from deadly hepatitis

JAKARTA (JP): It's far better to prevent than to cure, so parents check your timetable to see when your babies are due to be vaccinated against the Hepatitis B virus.

The younger the children are when infected with the endemic virus, the bigger their chances of suffering from chronic hepatitis in adulthood, pediatricians revealed on Saturday.

"Babies infected with the virus during their first year will have a 90 percent chance of suffering from hepatitis, while the chances of children above five years old when infected with the virus, of developing the disease in adulthood is only between 10 percent and 50 percent," Sri Kusumo Amdani from the Harapan Kita Hospital, West Jakarta, said.

Speaking in a seminar, held by British-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, on how to prevent children from contracting infectious maladies, Amdani explained that Hepatitis B did not show any immediate symptoms, but could slowly kill the sufferer in 20 to 30 years.

Only a small number of patients show its flu-like symptoms, such as a yellowish tinge in the eyes and skin, weakness, loss of appetite and nausea.

Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver triggered by the various hepatitis virus from A to H.

The Hepatitis B and C are the most fatal although they can be cured. The virus resides in the blood, therefore they can easily be spread to other people through shared personal items which may contain traces of blood like combs, razor blades, syringes as well as through sexual intercourse and blood transfusions.

Amdani said babies could catch the virus from their infected mothers during childbirth. "But the chances of this happening are only around five percent to six percent."

"The Hepatitis B virus is responsible for more than 80 percent of liver cancer and cirrhosis in the world, while liver cancer is the world's second most deadly disease after lung cancer. Getting your babies vaccinated is the only way to protect them against the virus," she told the seminar.

However, she added, the vaccine would only lst for 12 years. After that, we should test to see if our bodies have established its own antibodies.

Her colleague Budi Purnomo explained that Indonesia, along with other developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, was still vulnerable to the endemic virus. "This is because of the region's dense population and the people's low awareness of the importance of a healthy environment."

A recent study revealed that at least 11.6 million Indonesians had been exposed to hepatitis, the third highest in the region after China and India.

Budi said vaccination against various infectious diseases had helped reduce infant mortality from 145 out of 1,000 childbirths in 1967 to only 52 out of 1,000 childbirths in 1997. "The number is still decreasing."

"Seven out of 10 fatal diseases that children are vulnerable to are infectious, so it is important they are vaccinated during infancy," he told a media briefing after the seminar.

There are various vaccinations a baby should be given besides against Hepatitis B. These include vaccinations against the seven fatal diseases, namely tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (better known as whooping cough), polio and measles.

Many vaccines are combined to allow babies to take them in one injection.

"This new method helps reduce the trauma of taking many vaccinations and subsequently reduces the number of babies dropping out of the program," GlaxoSmithKline product manager Alfi Fatmayani remarked. (bby)