Hepatitis B more prevalent than HIV in donor blood

Of every 1,000 blood samples, ID-NAT blood bank officials found 12 positive for HBV

Of every 1,000 blood samples tested at the Individual Donor-Nucleic Acid Testing (ID-NAT) blood bank at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital here, an average of 12 are found to be positive for Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and two for HIV.

Officials from the blood bank who are detecting an increased number of HBV cases by using the ID-NAT method, an advanced screening technology, said that the detection of HBV cases was more than that of HIV.

This trend has been constant in the last two years.

‘Silent killer’
Doctors said that HBV, known as a “silent killer”, is more infectious than HIV and is the cause for liver cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.

Hepatitis (liver inflammation) occurs when the liver, in reaction to harmful elements (commonly drugs, alcohol and viruses), swells and slowly loses its ability to function.

Hepatitis B Virus is not spread by contaminated food. It is transmitted through contact with blood or other body fluids of an infected person.

Symptoms
Parvesh Kumar Jain, head of the Department of Medical Gastroenterology in the State-run Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), said that common symptoms include jaundice, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and loss of appetite.

Afshan Yasmeen
The Hindu
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