Millions of Europeans are infected with hepatitis B or C without knowing, according to an ECDC report, which points out that the lack of diagnosis and access to treatment risks triggering a medical crisis.
Silent infections can progressively destroy the liver. Photo: Shutterstock
On the occasion of the World Day to fight hepatitis, the European public health authorities are an alarm about the non -detected spread of hepatitis B and C among the population.
According to a new report of the European Center for the Prevention and Control of Diseases (ECDC), millions of people in Europe live with chronic liver infections without being aware of this fact, which significantly increases the risk of serious complications, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.
ECDC estimates that about five million people in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are infected with chronic hepatitis – 3.2 million with hepatitis B virus and 1.8 million with hepatitis C virus, most of these people are not diagnosed and therefore do not benefit from adequate treatment.
“Silent infections”, as they are often called, hepatitis B and C can develop without symptoms for years, causing progressive liver damage. Only clinical signs, in the form of fibrosis, cirrhosis or cancer, only in advanced stages. The transmission occurs especially by contact with blood or other infected body fluids, for example by the common use of drug use or unprotected equipment.
Dr. Marieke van der Werf, head of the ECDC department for viral diseases transmitted through blood, draws attention to the urgent need to intensify prevention efforts: “Access to vaccination, testing and medical care is essential for a healthier and more resilient Europe.”
According to available data, over 65% of people infected with hepatitis B and 62% of those with hepatitis C remain undiagnosed.
Although hepatitis B cannot be cured currently, the evolution of the disease can be kept under control by long -term antiviral treatments. In contrast, hepatitis C has a much more optimistic prognosis, being successfully treatable by short cures of modern antivirals, with a very high healing rate.
Also, hepatitis A, which is transmitted by fecal-oral route, causes an acute infection that is usually solved, spontaneously, without specific treatment.
Globally, chronic viral hepatitis remain a major public health problem, causing about 1.3 million deaths annually, a figure comparable to tuberculosis, according to the same source.
The World Health Organization estimates that, by 2030, 2.8 million deaths could be prevented, provided that governments integrate the testing and treatment of hepatitis into primary health systems, with priority for vulnerable and risky groups.
