In Chuquisaka, 120 people have been notified of hepatitis B this year. Due to a lack of active surveillance, more cases of this serious STI of the liver could not be diagnosed.
“In Chuquisaka, we have 120 patients with chronic hepatitis B who are being followed up, and more than 70% of them are receiving treatment,” said José Armando Sandoval, director of the STI/HIV/AIDS program at headquarters (José Armando Sandoval) reported Tuesday.
This type of hepatitis is treated with antiviral drugs, which can reduce the viral load in 90% of patients. For a small number of cases of hepatitis C, direct-acting antiviral drugs are able to eradicate the disease from the body 100% of the time, and so far, these patients have been able to overcome it.
This infection, caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), can be fatal because when it becomes chronic, it carries a high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer. Transmission occurs through contact with blood or infected bodily fluids such as saliva, semen, vaginal fluid, and menstrual fluid, according to the World Health Organization.
Most people do not experience symptoms immediately after infection. But after a few weeks, they usually show acute symptoms, including yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), dark urine, extreme tiredness, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Worldwide, the disease is “five to ten times more common” than HIV, Sandoval said. However, in Bolivia, the prevalence is low due to the recent implementation of clinical practice guidelines.
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