Dr Olumide Akadiri, the Chief Medical Director of the Ondo State Specialists Hospital, Okitipupa, has described hepatitis, (an inflammation of the liver ), as a slow killer.
Akadiri, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Okitipupa, likened hepatitis to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) but said that it was more dangerous than AIDS.
He said hepatitis could be contacted through viral or chemical infections in the body fluid and can be transmitted through sexual intercourse, blood transfusion or use of unsterilised needles or blades.
“Hepatitis is a disease which causes an inflammation of the liver, destroys the liver and reduces its detoxifying functions which makes the body prone to harmful substances.
“Hepatitis is more dangerous than AIDS because it kills the carrier slowly and cannot be detected except it is particularly diagnosed.
“Hepatitis is mostly detected in the blood banks during screening of donors’ blood samples before transfusion is made,’’ he said.
Akadiri said hepatitis has five categories; A, B, C, E and H, adding that regular fever, headache, body ache and yellowness of the eyes were the symptoms of hepatitis.
He urged people to go to hospital to screen their blood samples for early detection, adding that there were vaccines for hepatitis. (NAN)
