Dr. Kadiatou Diallo: “against hepatitis B, screening and vaccination are the best weapons”

Hepatitis B affects many people in Guinea, often without knowing it. The disease can cause serious complications, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer. Screening and vaccination are essential in the fight against this disease according to Dr. Kadiatou Diallo, doctor in the hepato-gastro department at CHU Donka.

Hepatitis B is an inflammation of liver cells linked to the presence of the virus in the blood. It differs from other hepatitis by its modes of contamination, its evolution and the complications it can cause. There are five viruses that target the liver: A, B, C, E, and Delta, each with a particular mode of transmission. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it caused 1.3 million deaths in 2022, or around 3,600 deaths every day, and nearly 250 million of people live with a chronic infection.

“Screening and vaccination are our best weapons to stop this disease,” recalls Dr. Kadiatou Diallo, doctor in the hepato-gastro department at Donka University Hospital.

Transmission and situation in Guinea

The virus is mainly transmitted from mother to child during childbirth. The hepatitis B virus can also be transmitted through needlesticks, tattoos, piercings and exposure to infected blood or body fluids such as saliva, menstrual discharge, vaginal secretions or seminal fluid. Transmission can also result from sharing or reusing contaminated needles, syringes or sharps, whether in health care settings, in the community or when injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is more common among unvaccinated people who have multiple sexual partners. “Contamination by saliva or sweat remains quite rare” specifies Dr. Kadiatou.

In Guinea, a national policy has been put in place to promote screening and access to care. However, “the means remain insufficient and there is a lack of reliable figures to assess the real extent of the problem”, regrets Dr. Diallo. The cost of a complete test, estimated at 500,000 Guinean francs, remains a major obstacle for the population.

Symptoms and risks

Hepatitis B is a disease that progresses and mutates. This progression often occurs in two phases. Without treatment, chronic hepatitis B can cause cirrhosis or liver cancer, two often fatal pathologies.

The acute phase?

At this stage of the disease, symptoms may appear. “We talk about clinical manifestations, and these clinical manifestations resemble symptoms such as: flu, malaria, fever, headache, joint pain, itching, jaundice.” explains Dr. Kadiatou.

The Chronic phase?

“Most often, the patient experiences no symptoms of the disease, or is asymptomatic. He discovers it during a check-up or at the stage of complications. An untreated infected person faces many risks. It can have serious complications, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. she adds. However, specialists recommend regular diagnosis, although this remains expensive in Guinea.

Prevention or the key to the fight

Not all infected patients need treatment, but prevention remains essential. This prevention involves vaccination of newborns within 24 hours after birth, systematic screening of pregnant women, and vaccination of uninfected people. Among citizens, the disease remains little known, but some, like Marcel Kamano, campaign for preventive vaccination : “It’s a disease that affects many young people. I want to take the test and get vaccinated to protect myself”

As for Ibrahima Sory Barry, he lost a loved one to hepatitis. For him, there is no question of neglecting the disease. “The vaccine is important because it is a serious disease. I lost a colleague in 2023 to hepatitis B. This convinced me to protect myself.”

Hepatitis B is a major public health problem. According to WHO, the burden of infection is highest in the Western Pacific Region and the African Region, where 97 and 65 million people respectively have chronic infection. There are 61 million infected people in the South-East Asia Region, 15 million in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 11 million in the European Region and 5 million in the Americas Region.

Kadiza SOW