Tag: #hepatitis

  • Hajra Yamin opens up about battling Dengue fever and Hepatitis

    Hajra Yamin opens up about battling Dengue fever and Hepatitis

    Hajra Yamin, the talented theater and film actor, began her acting journey on stage. She has starred in popular Pakistani dramas like ‘Mohabbat Chor Di Maine’, ‘Jindo’, ‘Jalan’, but is also recognized for her outspoken views on various social issues.
    Recently, Hajra appeared on Nadia Khan’s latest Ramadan show on Green Entertainment where she talked about her experience of feeling helpless when she got sick with dengue fever.

    “Two years ago, I caught Dengue fever from a set, it was the second time I got infected. All my tests were coming back negative. A doctor gave me antibiotics, which caused hepatitis A. My liver got damaged. During Dengue fever, you can’t take antibiotics because they react badly. At that time, COVID was also at its peak. I was so sick, I was choking when I called the doctor, who immediately suggested I go to the emergency room. None of my friends helped me; strangers took me to the hospitals.”

    She also added, “Those who claim they are Sufi are the most fake people.”

  • Hepatitis viruses kill 3,500 people a day: WHO

    Hepatitis viruses kill 3,500 people a day: WHO

    More than 3,500 people die from hepatitis viruses every day and the global toll is rising, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday, calling for swift action to fight the second-largest infectious killer.

    New data from 187 countries showed that the number of deaths from viral hepatitis rose to 1.3 million in 2022 from 1.1 million in 2019, according to a WHO report released to coincide with the World Hepatitis Summit in Portugal this week.

    These are “alarming trends,” Meg Doherty, head of the WHO’s global HIV, hepatitis and sexually-transmitted infection programmes, told a press conference.

    The report said that there are 3,500 deaths per day worldwide from hepatitis infections — 83 percent from hepatitis B, 17 percent from hepatitis C.

    There are effective and cheap generic drugs which can treat these viruses.

    Yet only three percent of those with chronic hep B received antiviral treatment by the end of 2022, the report said.

    For hep C, just 20 percent-or 12.5 million people-had been treated.

    “These results fall well below the global targets to treat 80 percent of all people living with chronic hep B and C by 2030,” Doherty said.

    The overall rate of hepatitis infections did fall slightly.

    But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasised that the report “paints a troubling picture”.

    “Despite progress globally in preventing hepatitis infections, deaths are rising because far too few people with hepatitis are being diagnosed and treated,” he said in a statement.

    Africa accounts for 63 percent of new hep B infections, yet less than one in five babies on the continent are vaccinated at birth, the report said.

    The UN agency also lamented that the affected countries did not have enough access to generic hepatitis drugs — and often paid more than they should.

    Two thirds of all hepatitis cases are in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, and Vietnam, according to the report.

    “Universal access to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in these 10 countries by 2025, alongside intensified efforts in the African region, is essential to get the global response back on track,” the WHO said in a statement.

    Viral hepatitis is the second-biggest infectious killer, narrowly trailing tuberculosis.

  • Islamabad: Tehzeeb Bakers sealed after six workers test positive for Hepatitis

    Islamabad: Tehzeeb Bakers sealed after six workers test positive for Hepatitis

    Islamabad’s famous Tehzeeb Bakers in Blue Area has been sealed by the Senior Special Magistrate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Tuesday following a complaint from the health services directorate of the civic authority, The Nation has reported. The complaint reported that six workers of the bakery had recently tested positive for Hepatitis after undergoing tests.

    The Senior Special Magistrate, Sardar Muhammad Asif, was informed that the management of Tehzeeb Bakers was notified about the infected workers and instructed to remove them from work, but they failed to comply with the directions and allowed them to continue working in their previous positions.

    As a result, the Senior Special Magistrate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has ordered the sealing of Tehzeeb Bakers. The official notice issued by the Magistrate states that the bakery has committed severe violations resulting in widespread transmission of Hepatitis among the public. The bakery has now been sealed to prevent further spread of Hepatitis among customers. The notice further expressed the hope that the closure of Tehzeeb Bakers would safeguard the public from contracting Hepatitis.

  • 5.28% of blood donors in Sindh infected with HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases

    5.28% of blood donors in Sindh infected with HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases

    The Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA) has revealed that a total of 1,357 people were diagnosed with HIV in Sindh during the first eight months of 2021 after their blood samples were tested at the blood banks in 24 districts of the province, Waqar Bhatti reported for Geo News.

    “During the first eight months of this year, around 455,742 donors donated their blood at 166 blood banks in the 24 districts of Sindh, of which 1,357 donors were found to be infected with HIV, which amounts to 0.29% of the samples,” Dr Durre Naz Jamal, the SBTA director, revealed in a meeting of the provincial health department.

    “Of the 455,742 blood samples tested in the province, around 24,088 were found reactive or infected with either of five different diseases,” Dr Durre Naz said as she explained that 5.28% (24,088) of the donors were diagnosed with one or more infectious diseases and could not donate blood.
    Blood samples in Pakistan are screened for five infectious diseases — HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, and malaria — to prevent recipients from having these diseases through blood transfusion but sometimes, unscreened blood is transfused to people as most of the blood banks lack the facility of nucleic acid testing (NAT), a molecular technique for screening the donated blood.

    The SBTA data presented to the provincial health minister revealed that 8,155 or 1.79% of blood donors in Sindh were infected with hepatitis B while 7,995 or 1.75% were infected with hepatitis C.

    In addition to that, as many as 6,142 blood donors were found to be infected with syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection. The percentage of the donors infected with syphilis was 1.34, Dr Durre Naz said, adding that 448 blood donors had also been found to be infected with malaria.
    According to the data presented to the health department, the highest number of blood donors infected with HIV were found in Karachi’s District East where 653 persons were found to have HIV in their blood, followed by District South of Karachi, where 431 blood donors were found to be infected with HIV.

    Similarly, Karachi’s District South had the highest number of blood donors infected with hepatitis B and C, where 2,603 donors were found to be infected with HBV and 2,923 blood donors with HCV.

    Directing the SBTA to strictly implement the screening system for safe blood transfusion across the province, Dr Pechuho said a dashboard of blood screening results should be immediately established to prevent the spread of diseases caused by blood transfusions.