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Hepatitis-B dwarfs AIDS•IIEPAT1TIS-B dwarfs AIDS in terms of the number of people who contract the disease on an annual basis worldwide, it Is Just that more sensationalism is attached to AIDS.*So said Dr. Gerald Moscicy, Regional Medical Associate (USA) at a public health medical forum on Hc-patttls-B The Disease and Its Prevention,* held at the Holiday Inn. Rosehall. Montego Bay. recently.Because the number of persons who contract Hepatitis Is relatively higher than those contracting AIDS, more people actually die from Hepatitis than from AIDS. Dr. Moseley explained.He noted that 90% of patients suffering from acute Hepatitis recover, however, 10% go on to become persistent lifelong carriers, at which stage the disease becomes chronic.There Is no cure for chronic Hepatitis,* Dr. Moseley said, ’thesepatients will eventually die from cirrhosis of (he liver or liver cancer.In cases of chronic Hepatitis, Dr. Moseley said, many times there arp no symptoms of the disease and people are therefore not aware that they have the disease, unless It becomes active. These 'silent carriers.' as they are referred to. may carry the virus for life and can pass It on to other persons through body fluids such as blood, sweat, tears, semen or vaginal secretions.Dr. Shaughan Terry, Gastroenterologist and Senior Consultant Physician In the Department of Medicine. UWI, In his presentation noted that the acute form of Hepatitis was the type most prevalent In Jamaica. He noted that most patients actually recover from acute Hepatitis, but a few do become chronic.Professor Dorothy King, Professor fo Microbiology and Virology at the University of the West Indies (UWI) announced at the forum thatplans have been implemented by c the University Hospital lo immu- lt;nlre all hospital staff against the . disease, on a phased basis.She noted that research conducted with a small sample of hospital workers revealed that the number of persons with the Hepatitis antibody was quite high. This, she explained, meant that the number of persons who had met . the disease was relatively high. -Professor King said that official statistics indicate that Hepatitis ranks In about ninth position in terms of prevalence In comparison to other diseases In Jamaica, however. she was of the opinion that In actual fad It was much higher.The forum which was chaired by Dr. Marco Brown, senior physician and surgeon, was attended by a wide cross-section of medical and para-medlcal personnel, as well as members of the public.
Newspaper Details
Kingston Gleaner
Kingston, Kingston, JM
Mon, Jun 04, 1990
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Susun W.
USA 18 Oct 2017
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