Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — As part of efforts aimed at raising health awareness at both preventive and curative levels, Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital here recently organized a lecture about hepatitis C virus that infects primarily the liver. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the leading causes of liver cancer, said Dr. Salem Bazarah, gastroenterology/hematology consultant a the hospital. He explained that HCV is a small, single-stranded RNA virus. The genetic composition of the virus is classified into six main types, which vary according to their geographical spread. The first type, for example, found frequently in Western societies, while the fourth type spreads in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. Bazarah said the doctor who is treating a hepatitis patient needs to know the virus genome classification because on this basis he can determine the remedy, the duration of treatment and expected response. The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, which is generally apparent after many years. In some cases, those with cirrhosis will go on to develop liver failure, liver cancer, or life-threatening esophageal and gastric varices. Bazarah said more than 80 percent of people do not show any severe symptoms when infected by the virus. Infection caused by the virus is actually discovered by coincidence when a premarital checkup or other laboratory tests are carried out. Regarding infection and transmission, Bazarah said the virus is transmitted through contaminated blood or blood products or tools that might be stained with contaminated blood. A small percentage is transmitted through intercourse and the rate of infection is high among drug addicts and homosexuals. Bazarah said the number of people infected worldwide with the virus now exceeds 170 million, representing 3 percent of the global population. New cases annually account for 3-4 million. In the Kingdom, the rate of infection is from 0.4-1.1 percent. Bazarah said the conventional treatment with Interferon injection and ribavirin tablets was effective in about 60 percent of the cases, but there are some new drugs, such as sofosbuvir, which proved to be more effective with recovery rates of almost 98 percent. Health authorities in Saudi Arabia have approved this treatment once it became available worldwide. Concluding his lecture, Bazarah said even though the virus causes serious complications, it has little chance of spreading among family members of an infected person if all precautionary and preventive measures are strictly followed.
