In industrialized countries, such as the United States or Germany, hepatitis B and C are known above all. Both variants are transmitted through sexual intercourse. By comparison, hepatitis E plays a much smaller role.
However, billions of people in the world, living without proper sanitation facilities, suffer from this liver infection. The hepatitis E virus is transmitted, above all, through water contaminated with feces. Experts calculate that in the coming years, the disease will spread more with rising temperatures.
This is how hepatitis E spreads
Hepatitis E is transmitted mainly in countries in South and East Asia, where severe flooding often occurs. In India, for example, cases increase in the monsoon months, between June and September.
“In the event of a flood, the water can enter the canalization. And as it recedes, the water becomes contaminated with excrement and can transmit hepatitis E”, explains Ayodele Majekodunmi, an epidemiologist at the University of Ghana.
Likewise, droughts increase the possibility of contracting this disease, says Majekodunmi, who investigated the spread of hepatitis E in sub-Saharan Africa.
“When a river dries up, the water sources are concentrated in certain areas. People can no longer get access to running water. There are only a few ponds left, and everyone uses the same water sources, and thus these are more easily polluted,” he says.
The symptoms of an infection are usually a slight fever, lack of appetite, tiredness, nausea and vomiting. Later, sick people develop jaundice: the eyes, skin and mucous membranes take on a yellowish color. It usually takes between 2 and 8 weeks for a patient to recover.
Researchers believe that due to global warming, flooding will increase. However, it is not yet possible to say whether climate change is already playing a role in the spread of hepatitis E.
According to the international organization Médecins Sans Frontières, every year some 20 Millions of people are infected with hepatitis E in the world. And some 44, die as a result of an infection. Although the mortality rate among young and healthy people is low, in the case of pregnant women it increases up to 20 percent.
An underestimated disease
In Majekodunmi’s opinion, the world society of doctors and pharmaceuticals does not pay much attention to it to this disease. This is probably due to the low spread of hepatitis E in industrialized countries and the low mortality rate.
“Some diseases are simply considered more important,” says the epidemiologist. “Traditionally, the three big diseases are malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. If one researches one of these three diseases, they will have no problem receiving sufficient research funding. But there are also other diseases, which mainly affect the poorest disproportionately. In general, these are diseases transmitted by contaminated water”, he adds.
The poorest are the most affected
Majekodunmi stresses that middle-class people rarely get hepatitis E, regardless of whether they are from Nigeria or Germany. The disease occurs mainly in places where living conditions are very poor, such as in refugee camps or in areas affected by humanitarian crises and climatic catastrophes.
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