There are a total of 6 different types of viral hepatitis, each of which caused by a different type of virus.
Hepatitis occurs when there is an inflammation of the liver, which is a condition often caused by viral infections. However, there may be other causes, such as autoimmune hepatitis or derived from the consumption of toxic products such as alcohol, medication and some plants.
According to data from Infarmed, more than 10,000 Portuguese people with hepatitis C were considered cured in the past three years.
The number of treatments by the National Health Service has risen from 13,000 to 20,000 since 2015, when the first drug of the new generation of the disease was approved. In fact, over time, scientific research has allowed the development of innovative drugs, which guarantee 97% of the effectiveness of the treatment.
To comment on these figures, and on occasion of the World Hepatitis Day on 28 July, Professor Rui Tato Marinho, President of the Portuguese Society of Gastroenterology, was invited by RTP. He highlighted the “fantastic advance of modern medicine” in the fight against viral hepatitis, explaining how the "antiviral that can interfere with the growth of the virus", responsible for hepatitis C, neutralizes it in a few hours. According to the Professor, 27.000 treatments have been made so far, with a 97% success rate in eradicating the virus.
The cure rate for hepatitis C has thus increased exponentially, and as for the number of cases, Rui Tato Marinho estimates that there are "still 40 thousand people to be identified, because it is also a silent disease", diagnosed only "through tests and specific serological tests for hepatitis C”, as he explained in an interview to RTP, recommending “having the hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV test at least once in your life, starting in your early 20s”.
Prevention and screening are, therefore, ideas to keep in mind, especially on the day that raises the world’s awareness about the fight against Hepatitis, marked every year on 28 July. "The celebration aims to clarify aspects related to the infection, to underline its prevalence worldwide, to raise awareness of the need to invest in prevention and to inform patients, their families and the population in general", explains the National Health Service (SNS) on its official page, which highlights the 27 thousand authorized treatments for the treatment of hepatitis C and the 15 thousand cured since 2015.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hepatitis B and C, together, are the most common cause of deaths, responsible for about 1.4 million lives lost each year.
“Hepatitis-free future” was the motto chosen this year to mark World Hepatitis Day, with a focus on the prevention of hepatitis B (HBV) among mothers and new-borns. “At the 69th World Health Assembly, which took place between 23 and 28 May 2016 in Geneva, 194 Governments adopted the Global Strategy on Viral Hepatitis of the World Health Organization (WHO), which aims to eliminate hepatitis B and C over the next 13 years. NOhep, the first global movement to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030” was launched, according to the information available on the SNS website.
The event led to yet another initiative by the FMUL Nutrition Laboratory, which on World Hepatitis Day turned its attention to Hepatitis E and the importance of food in preventing the disease, the main routes of infection in the European Union being the consumption of pork, as well as processed products derived from the same animal and also poorly prepared seafood.
In yet another Fact Sheet, the Nutrition Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon elucidates us about the origin of the hepatitis E virus, “discovered in 1980 when the Soviet army in Afghanistan was affected by major outbreaks of hepatitis of cryptogenic etiology”, revealing the scientific evolution registered in the last decade, which “was totally disruptive in terms of knowledge about this virus”, in addition to the care to be taken with the diet of immunocompromised individuals.
About a year ago, we explored this and other issues with Rui Tato Marinho in the news @FMUL, in which the Professor assumed his disbelief in the eradication of the “Hepatitis epidemic by 2030”, explaining that we are facing “chronic diseases” and “some patients with Hepatitis C already have cirrhosis, so they have a risk of liver cancer despite eliminating the virus”. “But it can be greatly reduced in terms of public health impact”, Rui Tato Marinho assured us during a conversation in which he shared the experience and knowledge of “30 years of curing patients with Hepatitis C”, in an interview we recall here.
Sofia Tavares
Editorial Team