KARACHI, Jan 17: Contrary to common belief, vaccines are available locally with the help of which hepatitis-B might be eradicated in newborns.

The vaccines are good news for all women who want to conceive but refrain from doing so simply because of fears that since they carry hepatitis-B virus themselves, they will infect their newborns with the dreaded virus. The hepatitis-B virus can cause liver cancer.

The vaccines provide a means of stopping the spread of hepatitis-B to future generations, if they are used properly and promptly. They should be used by the country in conjunction with the vaccines which are aimed at making the uninfected population immune from the already infected people.

In this way the vaccines make hepatitis-B virus totally preventable. The western societies have already managed to relegate this virus to the category of preventable ailments.

To be sure, Pakistan will have to make considerable efforts before this goal can be achieved. Every pregnant woman will have to be screened for hepatitis-B virus and the test will have to be given to her early on in her term.

If a woman tests positive for the HBV, precautionary steps must be taken in consultation with a qualified physician. And once the child is born, he or she must immediately be given a shot of anti-hepatitis vaccine, said a professor of medicine on Friday.

Prof Masood Hameed Khan of the Civil Hospital Karachi said subsequent doses should be given in close consultation with a physician.

According to an immunology expert of Karachi University, one step which most doctors don’t recommend, even though they should, involves checking if the doses already administered had the desired effect.

“It’s very important to determine, after the doses had been administered, whether desired immunity had in fact been created with their help,” she said.

“So, I believe every person who wants to acquire immunity should be given three vaccine doses, as commonly recommended, plus a fourth test to find out if the desired immunity had indeed been created in the person concerned.”

Meanwhile, the hepatitis-B virus can be transmitted through blood or sex, said Prof Masood H. Khan. “So safe sex is absolutely vital. Also, utensils and personal things like toothbrushes, razors, cups and glasses shouldn’t be shared with anyone.

“It goes without saying that all the people you live with should be vaccinated.” He added that all secretions of an infected person were dangerous.

“Even saliva is dangerous if it comes in contact with an open wound etc of an uninfected person. Saliva doesn’t infect if it comes in contact with unaffected skin, but it pays to be cautious.”

In response to a question, Prof Khan said the carrier rate of hepatitis-B virus was as high as 10 per cent. “A carrier is a potential transmitter of the disease, for himself and others.”

The liver of a carrier person must be monitored for performance regularly, said the professor of medicine. “He or she should regularly get the Liver Function Tests done.”

Elaborating, he said these tests could tell a carrier whether or not his liver was being affected by the HBV.

Prof Khan said in Pakistan faulty blood transfusion, quack dentists and unhygienic implements used by barbers etc had caused the spread of the hepatitis-B virus.