KARACHI, Feb 19: A survey conducted by the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Karachi, has shown 6% positivity for hepatitis C.

Other Studies carried out in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi have confirmed the high rise in hepatitis- C.

There are five main types of viral hepatitis designated by the first five alphabets, A,B,C, D & E. Hepatitis- C is transmitted through blood transfusions, from mother to infants and through sexual contact.

Following infection, on an average it takes 56 days for jaundice to develop in the infected subject. one to two per cent of patients die and chronic hepatitis develops in 50 per cent of them, especially in those suffering from thalassaemia. The disease also causes liver cancer.

Studies also show 60% positivity in Pakistani children suffering from thalassaemia and other blood disorders, and in children receiving frequent blood transfusions. In children with jaundice, but with no history of blood transfusions, it has been detected in 30 per cent of cases.

Hepatitis C antibodies have also been also detected in 20% of normal children with no history of clinical jaundice or blood transfusions and without any high-risk patients at home. These cases are found more in low socio-economic groups among which unnecessary injections for trivial illnesses are more common

Connection has also been found between frequency of transfusions and hepatitis C. The more frequently a person receives transfusions, the more his chances are to develop hepatitis C.

Unhygienic ear-pricking practices in girls, substandard practices among dentists and in roadside clinics, use of a single razor blade in barber shops and bad circumcisions are among the other causes of the disease.

It has been observed that substandard screenings in many blood banks are also responsible for the spread of the infection.

The high cost of syringes forces general practitioners and quacks to use a single syringe for many patients. Unnecessary blood transfusions to surgical patients are another contributing factor keeping in mind that the disease goes unnoticed in nearly 10 percent cases.

There are at least 60,000 patients of thalassaemia alone who are positive for hepatitis C in the country, rendering 60,000 families positive for hepatitis C in that particular illness.

The transmission of hepatitis C from this large group to the uninfected population of the country must be checked by preventing blood donations from these families and through other preventive measures.

Hepatitis- C first came to notice in 1942 when it broke out among the American solders. It is more common in Italy, Germany, Holland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan.—PPI