July 8, 2016.
According to a study conducted by a team of researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Washington, viral hepatitis killed 1.45 million people in 2013, 63% more than in 1990.
The number of deaths on the rise for 20 years
Hepatitis kills more than AIDS or tuberculosis. This is what a study published in the medical journal reveals The Lancet. These infectious diseases, which are transmitted sexually and through body fluids (hepatitis B and C) or by ingestion of contaminated food or water (hepatitis A and E) were the cause of death of 1.45 million people in 2013. In comparison, 1.4 million people died from tuberculosis, 1.3 million from AIDS, and 885,000 from malaria that same year.
” Viral hepatitis is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide », Explain the authors of the study. ” Unlike most communicable diseases, the absolute burden and relative rank of viral hepatitis increased between 1990 and 2013. “
Vaccines still too expensive
The most deadly hepatitis are hepatitis B and C (96% of deaths) which cause liver cancer or cirrhosis. To avoid being contaminated by hepatitis B, vaccines exist but they ” remain beyond the reach of any country, rich or poor “, says Dr Graham Cooke of Imperial College London. However ” three injections of this vaccine protect 98% of people vaccinated against infection with the hepatitis B virus », Specifies the Pasteur Institute.
On the other hand, there is currently no vaccine against hepatitis C. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 130 to 150 million people are chronic carriers of hepatitis C and 500,000 people die from it each year, across the world. The most affected regions remain Africa and Central and Eastern Asia.
Read also: Unconventional treatments for hepatitis B
