Spotting the Mutants to find the missing millions infected with Hepatitis B virus
Say blood transmitted disease and the first name that comes to mind is HIV infection. But did you know that 9 times more people are infected with Hepatitis than HIV? 28th July every year is recognized as World Hepatitis Day, in an effort to create awareness to eradicate the deadly virus by 2030. The second major infectious disease after tuberculosis, Hepatitis affects 325 million people worldwide, claiming 4,000 lives a day! What is ironical is that 290 of these 325 million people are unaware of their infection!* That's the story of the missing millions.. Not just globally, hepatitis is a severe health challenge in India as well. According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology, India has a disease burden of about 50 mn; second only to China; with a prevalence of 2-7%.** Hepatitis B infection shows no symptoms Of the five strains A,B,C,D and E of the Hepatitis virus, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is 50-100 times more infectio...