The DailyDigital Report/Dhaka/Bangladesh

Wed Feb 16, 2022 05:27 PM Last update on: Wed Feb 16, 202205:29 PM

A recent study onthe prevalence of Hepatitis B and C virus among the Rohingya refugees in Cox'sBazar has found that more than one in five Rohingya adults have Hepatitis Cvirus (HCV) infection.

The study titled, "High Prevalence of Hepatitis B and CVirus Infections Among Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Growing Concern forthe Refugees and the Host Communities", was published on the last week ofJanuary in Clinical Liver Disease (CLD), the journal of the AmericanAssociation for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

The study was conducted by the National Liver Foundation ofBangladesh (NLFB), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to prevention,treatment, education and research on liver diseases with special emphasis onviral hepatitis.

"The consequences of this high prevalence have been silentlycausing liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver failure," said DrMohammad Ali, a liver surgeon and NLFB founder who led the study.

According to the study, Hepatitis C was found in 26 percentfemales and 18 percent males, while eight percent of pregnant female refugeeswere found to be HCV positive.

It also mentioned that HCV is 18 times higher among theRohingya refugees than Bangladeshis.

NLFB conducted two studies on the prevalence of Hepatitis B(HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) among the Rohingya refugees. The first one wasconducted on pregnant women in 2017 and the second on general Rohingya refugeesin 2019 in Cox's Bazar.

A total of 300 pregnant Rohingya refugees and 2,000 refugeesin general in the camps, respectively, were tested during the study.

Apart from Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis B was found in ninepercent male, five percent female, and three percent pregnant female refugees.

Among all age groups, HCV was found in 11 percent ofrefugees, while the percentage of HBV was four percent.

According to Dr Ali, who is also the first liver transplantsurgeon in Bangladesh, "HBV affected pregnant women unknowingly transmitthe virus to their newborns, the most common mode of HBV transmission."

"The masses suffer silently with HBV and HCV in additionto their other health problems. They are also potential threats for the hostcommunity," he explained.

Dr Ali has been recognised as one of sixth hepatitis"elimination champions" last July by the Coalition for GlobalHepatitis Elimination, for making significant contributions toward ending thecondition globally.

According to Dr Ali, there is an immediate need forwell-organised studies to assess the causes and risk for viral transmission andthe capacity of health systems in the camps to deliver preventive, care, andtreatment services.