LARKANA, July 22 The government is urged to take immediate measures for controlling the hepatitis cases which are rising at an alarming proportion, especially in Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts.

Prof Hakim Ali Abro talking to Dawn said that every alternate patient in 44-bedded Medical Unit-II of Chandka Medical College Hospital is of hepatitis.

Health officials should carry out immunisation programme at a large scale as hepatitis was more deadly than Aids, he said while noting that it being a delta virus was more common in this district and often termed a 'death warrant.'

Medical Officer, Dr Farooq Soomro who frequents remote areas, particularly reverine or commonly known as katcha areas of Larkana district said that 30 per cent people of Sono Khan Chandio village near Gaibidero were suffering from Hepatitis-B and 35 per cent from Hepatitis-C out of the total population of 500.

A medical camp was arranged in Qubo Saeed Khan in 2009, wherein it was found that 22 per cent and 18 per cent of the visiting patients were suffering from Hepatitis-B and C, respectively, he said, while in Gajanpur locality 22 out of 90 patients were found inflicted with the B virus and in Hamal town five per cent were Hepatitis-B and 30 per cent C patients.

Meena Kumari, Medical Officer, Leprosy Unit of the Health Department said that a blood screening camp in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto detected 40 out of 90 women inflicted with the Hepatitis-C virus while calling upon the government to control it on far-footing.

However, Dr Soomro urged the government to tackle this dangerous situation immediately as there were some 200 cases of Delta Virus in the district. A case of Delta Virus becomes when a Hepatitis-B patient is superseded by another virus while treatment temporarily improves condition of the patient, he said adding that there were 3.2 million registered Hepatitis-B & C patients in Sindh.

Pathological data at the central laboratory of Chandka Medical College Hospital revealed hepatitis cases to be rising constantly since 2006. Dr Shabbir Shaikh, head of the unit, confirming the statistics said that there were 140 cases of Hepatitis-B and 258 of C, out of the 2,300 blood samples taken in 2006, while 1,029 cases of B and 1,069 of C were detected out of 10,242 samples tested in 2009.

He called for the government intervention towards this growing health menace.

The Health Department undertook a survey in the end of 2008 and found 236 cases of Hepatitis-B, 708 of C, and 31 cases of both B&C out of the total 4,916 blood samples collected from Larkana, Bakrani, Ratodero and Dokri talukas, said sources and added “The trend indicates prevalence of C virus more than the B.

Dr Abdul Majeed Jasar, focal person of the Chief Minister's programme for prevention and control said that 1,559 cases of Hepatitis-B, C&D were registered since February 2009. He said that treatment of 747 patients has been completed while 812 were still undergoing the process.

Dr Majeed was not satisfied with the number of people taking benefit from the programme. Using discarded syringes, unsafe blood transfusion, quackery, conventional ways of piercing ears and nose in villages, unhygienic conditions and delay in medical follow-up were few things responsible in contacting the disease, he said.