Punjab has maximum hepatitis C carriers in the country
POSTED May 20, 2009 - 15:29 | POSTED BY Bimal Preet Kaur
Last edited by Sham Kamboj on May 20, 2009 - 15:56
Punjab’s sorry statistics
According to Dr. Nirmaljeet Singh Malhi, gastroenterology consultant and liver specialist at the Deep Hospital, Ludhiana, there are about 350 million carriers of hepatitis C virus worldwide out of which 40 million belong to India.
Punjab alone shares five to seven percent of this sick Indian population. The worldwide ratio of occurrence of the disease is one out of 12 individuals. Shockingly, the ratio for Punjab is one out of 16 individuals.
Doctors’ efforts on Worldwide Hepatitis Awareness Day
The hospital MD Dr. Baldeep Singh, speaking on the importance of prevention of the disease through vaccination, said that prevention is the only remedy for hepatitis C since it has no treatment.
Dr Singh mentioned that the disease may occur through unprotected sex with a hepatitis infected person, can be transmitted through infected blood and may be transferred from the mother to her child during pregnancy.
The symptoms of the disease become visible only in the later stages, Dr. Malhi said, therefore timely screening of hepatitis is necessary. Dr. Malhi had organized free hepatitis screening at the hospital on the day.
