However, in reality, most people with chronic hepatitis B and
hepatitis C have never been diagnosed and remain at risk of developing liver disease, including cancer.
In 2017, 1.75 million people newly developed chronic
hepatitis C infection.
Immunization cannot help those already infected with hepatitis B, and no vaccine exists for
hepatitis C.
The shortage of medicines has put lives of score of patients suffering from
hepatitis C at risk.
As an outcome of the existence of antibodies by serologic test, patients were labeled
hepatitis C positive, whereas those labeled hepatitis B positive had hepatitis B surface antigen detected in their serum.
Globally, some 700,000 people die every year from liver disease related to
hepatitis C, according to the WHO.
Without quick control to contain the spread of the disease, the death rate from
Hepatitis C will surpass that from AIDS.
Hepatitis B virus was discovered in 1967 and the blood test that is used to detect the virus invented the first hepatitis B vaccine in 1969 and the
hepatitis C virus was initially isolated from the serum of a person in 1989 by Choo.1 Chronic HBV infection progresses nonlinearly through 3-4 phases, from the immune-tolerant phase to immune clearance or immune active phase, to non replicative inactive phase and possible reactivation.2
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a single stranded RNA virus belonging to the family "Flaviviridae".
Background and Objectives:
Hepatitis C and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are major global health problems and are highly prevalent in Pakistan.
There is no vaccine for
hepatitis C but there has been dramatic progress on treatment for the disease in the past few years.
According to the data of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department around 50,000 patients of hepatitis were in KP as 37,000 were
hepatitis C patients while more than 10,000 were hepatitis B patients.