World Hepatitis Day falls on 28 July 2017 and the theme given by World Health Organization for 2017 is “Eliminate Hepatitis”
Hepatitis as we all know is the inflammation of the liver and prove to be deadly in the long run if ignored. According to the World Health Organization, there are 400 million people worldwide who are living with Hepatitis B or C. Globally, every year 1.4 million people die from viral hepatitis. There are five viruses that can cause hepatitis - A, B, C, D and E. Out of these, hepatitis A, B & C cause over 90% of the diagnosed cases of the disease. While viral hepatitis can be acute or chronic, hepatitis A and E do not cause chronic illness. Hepatitis B and C are the most common disease viruses and can cause chronic illness. According to WHO Viral hepatitis affects 400 million people globally and, given the size of the epidemic, anyone and everyone can be at risk.
Let’s look at the risk factors hepatitis has brought:
You are at the risk of infertility if you are found with Hepatitis Virus. The hepatitis virus negatively impacts spermatogenesis in males thereby significantly lowering sperm count, its motility, viability and morphology. We can say that Hepatitis contributes to male infertility majorly. However, hepatitis has no effect on the normal functioning of the ovarian or uterine glands, it does not contribute to female infertility as such compared to males.
Testing for HBsAg (hepatitis B surface antigen virus) and HCV(hepatitis C virus) should be offered to all infertile couples seeking fertility therapy to reduce the potential risk of transmission to an uninfected partner, baby, staff members, and disease-free gametes and embryos stored in the same laboratory. Thus, couples that have been tested positive for hepatitis seeking fertility treatment should be properly counseled for the transmission risk of the disease. It should be taken care that these couples undergo any of the assisted reproduction techniques only when they have been properly treated and have reduced viral load.
Appropriate treatment of hepatitis B and C can prevent the development of the major life-threatening complications also such as chronic liver disease: cirrhosis and liver cancer.