The increase was because more screening efforts had taken place due to better awareness of the illness, she told reporters after launching the first Sabah Hepatitis Seminar.
She said that the majority of the cases involved adults.
“Immunisation for newborns only began in 1989, so those before that have not been immunised.
“Nevertheless, we also have cases of babies with the disease since not all have been immunised,” she said.
Since the introduction of the Hepatitis B vaccine, the seroprevalence of the disease has been reduced to 0.3 percent, below the target set by the World Health Organisation at one percent.
She added that the cases of Hepatitis C in Sabah were only between 30 and 40 cases per annum.
There are 450,000 people with Hepatitis C nationwide.
“There is a vaccine for Hepatitis B but none for Hepatitis C…It is possible that people with Hepatitis C now can be cured with treatment. However, prevention is better than cure and it also costs a lot to treat the disease,” she said.
Liver complications, high medical expenses and death are the predicaments of the disease.
Hepatitis B and C are transmitted via infected body fluids through parenteral contact, from contaminated blood or blood products, intravenous drug users who share needles, tattooing, invasive medical procedures using contaminated equipment and by sexual route.
Hepatitis B can also be transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy and childbirth.
It is said that Hepatitis B can be 100 times more infectious than Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV.
Meanwhile, Consultant Hepatologist, Dr Tan Soek Siam told reporters interest in Sabah was because the Hepatitis viral was common here.
She added that the number of people with Hepatitis were expected to rise as more people were coming for tests and screening.
She also said that the present screening method was by undergoing blood test as sufferers do not show any symptoms at all until it was already too late.
“A lot of people don’t show any symptom at all. Since it is viral, it gives a flu-like symptom. You feel tired more than usual…it takes between 10 years and 20 years for the liver to be damaged,” she said.
In the worst case scenario, sufferers will suffer jaundice, as well as fluid retention in their abdomen.
They can also go into a comatose state.
The good news, however, is that Hepatitis C can now be treated and cured, she said.
“In this seminar, the focus will be on sharing how the disease could be managed…we will talk with different doctors and the increase risks factors,” she said.
She also shared the importance of setting up support groups for the sufferers and their family members.
“They need to learn how to manage Hepatitis B and C since they spread the infection through blood.
“Counselling and education is imperative.
“One of the things to do is to clean a wound if you cut yourself and to cover it.
“The blood spilled must be cleaned properly and others must be prevented from coming into contact with it because it can be transmitted,” she said.
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