Feces bacteria are at an epidemic level in India
50 million Indians are suspected to be suffering from inflammation of the liver due to hepatitis, but the majority remain unaware of it.
This silent epidemic is playing havoc with the lives of millions of Indians, but those suffering from this chronic disease remain in the dark about their infection.
The virus can enter the body from very common sources including body fluids.
A son can get Hepatitis B by using the toothbrush of his father who is not aware that he has the infection.
Sharing a razor with an infected person can cause it as can infected saliva.
It can be passed on from infected blood or from an infected needle as also from sexual contact. Like AIDS, the disease can spread from a pregnant mother to her unborn child.
But this disease, unlike most others, will remain dormant in the individual for several years, before it gets manifest and when it does, it will show up as liver cirrhosis and cancer of the liver.
"Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) are taking a huge toll in the lives of Indians because of this lack of knowledge," says Dr Rakhi Maiwall, a heptalogist at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi.
"The lack of symptoms only makes the situation worse. Acute infections can occur with limited or no symptoms. Sometimes patients come to us complaining of nausea and extreme fatigue," she says.
"The disease can also be manifest in jaundice or when they have fluid in a patient's legs," Dr Maiwall adds.
http://www.rediff.com/news/special/hepatitis-indias-silent-killer/20151221.htm