Scary, alarming, worrisome, dreaded, nasty and horrific.
Those are just a few of the words being used to describe avian flu – the virus known as H5N1 – which threatens to jump from birds to humans and turn into the next pandemic.
But while the fear of avian virus holds much of the world in its grip, I am more concerned with another disease, one that the World Health Organization reports already infects more than 500 million people worldwide and accounts for nearly 15,000 deaths a year in the United States alone.
That disease is hepatitis, a chronic liver disease. And while avian flu is a threat that is still lurking, literally, in the wings, hepatitis, in its various strains, occupies center stage.
In fact, the incidence of Hepatitis C, the most lethal form of the disease and one of the leading causes of death nationwide, has increased dramatically in recent years. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, it is expected to double or triple over the next 20 years.
Hepatitis B is also on the rise. The National Institutes of Health has added it, along with Hepatitis C, to the list of known human carcinogens, likely to increase the risk of liver cancer by more than 10 times. Organ transplants, while in desperately short supply, offer the only hope for patients in the final stages of the disease.
None of this should be taking place. It is, after all, 25 years since an effective vaccine for Hepatitis B was developed. At the time, the vaccine was heralded on the front pages of newspapers and on television. The entire medical world basked in the joy of wiping out a deadly disease.
Hepatitis C went through a similar, though less definitive, phase. Research scientists isolated the virus in 1988 and by 1990 had developed a diagnostic test. Testing, everyone assumed, would allow for early diagnosis and treatment. Simple steps – such as using sterile needles and practicing safe sex – would prevent the virus from entering the bloodstream, limiting the spread of infection.
So what happened? Why is this preventable illness still around? The answer is simple – and it’s scary.
Vaccination, which should be universal, is instead sporadic. Although most infants today automatically receive the vaccine, older children and adults are at risk. The public health system, moreover, has failed to educate patients on the importance of having the entire course of three required shots.
Testing has also been sporadic. Local clinics do not offer the tests routinely. People with high-risk lifestyles often hesitate to ask for testing, out of fear of having past habits, such as drug abuse, revealed.
What’s the solution? At the American Liver Foundation, we believe in prevention. May is Hepatitis Awareness Month, and we’re urging all Americans to take steps to learn about this killer disease and avoid infection.
Hepatitis scares me. And it should scare you, too. It is only by taking the danger seriously – and learning how to overcome it – that we can fight back against this powerful but preventable disease.
Dr. John Goff is co-chairman of the medical advisory committee of the American Liver Foundation, Rocky Mountain Chapter. He practices internal medicine and gastroenterology in Lakewood.
